Infamous
by Kelly of the midnight dawn
Summary: He is infamous and he's back. EO rating subject to change. Chapter 12 and 13 WARNING: tissues required. Chapter 16 up now
1. Chapter 1

Infamous

Disclaimer: Dick Wolf is the one who gets all of the credit for the characters. I don't own anything.

A/N: I found this story recently just sitting in my computer and after I read it (because I started it like seven months ago and then just abandoned it.) I decided that it deserved a second chance. I hope that it serves to entertain ya'll. Please review if it does.

Dedication: To svu101 thank you so much for your encouraging words and I just want to say that your story "Stalked" is one of the best stories that I've had the pleasure of reading. Also thank you for giving me the idea to thank people in my stories.

Olivia Benson stared up at the wear house. It was old and unused. It had been many years since it had been used as a holding place for overseas cargo. 'Yes it's come to this' she thought 'could there be a bigger cliché?'. She and Elliot were at an abandoned wear house on the docks searching for an escaped prisoner from Riker's.

The criminal they were pursuing was one of four rapists that had all broken out together. The two guards who had been involved in the escape conspiracy had already been arrested and in questioning they each gave up the location of one. Unfortunately it had been the same one and not the one that Olivia was hoping for.

Richard White the bastard who seven years ago had murdered an ADA and then turned is women hating vengeful sites on Olivia had been one of those who had escaped. When Cragen had broken the news to her, she had had a momentary lapse in her usually calm being.

The captain had looked concerned when he had noticed it "Olivia," he had said gently "be honest, tell me that you can be objective in this."

She had put his fears to rest and reassured him that if at any time she felt to emotionally involved she would ask to be taken off the case.

Now as she stood outside the dismal wear house she knew she had been lying. As she took in the whole sight she had one thing in mind. To find this bastard Andrew Crawford and get him to tell her where White was. That Bastard was serving a life sentence and she was going to make sure that he spent it as miserable as possible.

"Okay," said Elliot "I'll go left. You go right." Because they were after one guy it would be better if they split up because they could cover more ground. Elliot fully trusted his partner's capabilities and he felt that it was a safe decision to make. Besides it was a big wear house.

Olivia proceeded down the right hand side of the wear house. Although it had not been used in a long time, stacks of wooden and cardboard boxes and metal containers were piled high. As Olivia looked back and saw that her view of her partner had been obstructed by one of those large metal containers she unconsciously reached for her gun. It afforded her some sense of security in this tense situation.

All of a sudden she noticed ahead of her not one but two of the suspects. As she tried to follow them inconspicuously she reached for her radio. Then out of no where someone grabbed her from behind.

"We can't have that now can we," a man's voice said as he grabbed the radio and threw it on the ground. She tried to move her gun to fire at least a warning shot but before she new it somehow her gun had left her hands too. 'You weren't meant to be a juggler Benson' she said to herself as she clawed at the guy. Then she stopped clawing, she felt a rim of cool metal pressed against her cheek. She looked at it. Damn Bastard had her at the mercy of her own gunn

"Don't scream," said the voice from behind her. She hadn't been planning on it. What she had really wanted to do was kick his ass but that no longer seemed like a viable possibility.

"Now where's your partner?" the man asked as he squeezed his arm into her wind pipe.

"Other… side… wear house," she choked. This was obviously bad. She now felt two men behind her and could still see the two suspects in front of her. One of the men in front of her was giving her a strange look, she didn't like it.

"C'mon Rich I need me some action," said the man whom she recognized as Andrew Crawford. Her heart stopped 'Rich as in Richard White is he the one who grabbed me'.

"Keep it in your pants Crawford," said White. She recognized his voice now. It had been a long time but she would never be able to put it completely out of her mind. She felt his breath against the back of her neck as he spoke his next sentence "This ones all MINE!"

Her heart pounded in her chest. She hadn't felt this kind of uncertainty in a long time. White's words witch in effect kept her safe from the other rapists scared her. Seven years ago he had expressed what could be described as a desire for her.

White had given one of the other men the duty of holding the gun trained on her. He proceeded to move himself and her into a sitting position. Because he was behind her she ended up sitting in his lap. He held his right arm in front of her neck. He was staring at the back of her neck and he kissed it.

She tried instinctually to move her head away but because of his arm her head was basicly stationary.

"You know Olivia," he said in his low sadistic voice "Your even more beautiful now then you were seven years ago,"

She just sat in silence. Now was not the best time for sarcastic remarks. She was already in enough trouble. She had to think clearly witch became hard to do as she felt his erection behind her. 'Calm down' she told herself 'Elliot will come looking for you soon. Just try to keep them from leaving the wear house.'

But she didn't have to worry about them leaving. Richard White was even more sadistic then she had thought.

"Where's your phone?" he asked momentarily tightening his grip around her neck. He wanted to here her gasp when she answered.

Olivia tried to reach into her coat to retrieve her cell phone but White slapped her hand away.

"Just tell me," he said angrily gripping her tighter.

She gave in "Left… inside… pocket…" she gasped.

His grip relaxed a little.

What did he want with her phone she thought as she looked up at the three other men. The man holding the gun was taking his job very seriously but the other two were taking in the scene and enjoying it thoroughly. She wished she could hurt them. 'Calm down' she reminded herself 'Just stay calm and wait for your chance'

She heard him using her phone. She was planning to escape but she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't end with her getting fatally shot.

Elliot had checked his side of the wear house as carefully as possible. Looking in any abandoned boxes, crates or containers he could find. All of a sudden his cell phone rang. He jumped 'Damn' He new he should have set it on vibrate. What a total jackass he was. He looked at the caller ID. It was Olivia. He answered the phone as he started to quietly make his way to the other side of the wear house.

"Hey Liv," he whispered as soon as he answered the phone "Did you find the guy?"

"Not exactly," a man's voice came back over the phone.

Elliot froze "Who is this?" he asked almost forgetting to wisper.

"Hello Detective Stabler," the voice said "Your partner can't come to the phone write now. She and I are going to have a little private time together."

"Who is this?" Elliot repeated. He was finding it hard to think straight.

"Oh come on Elliot you remember me," the man said. With every word the man sounded more and more depraved "Remember? Central Park, you tackled me before I was able to get what I really wanted."

"White," Elliot muttered.

"That's right," said White who had obviously heard him "You know I really did miss this little game of ours."

"It's not a game," Elliot growled into the phone as he approached the point where he had last seen Olivia.

"Sure it is," White continued "My wits against those of you and your partner. The winner gets the girl," he laughed, a low frighteningly evil laugh.

"We are not your pawns," Elliot tried to keep his voice level but the way his words slipped out it was easy to tell that White was getting the better of him "And my partner is not a prize."

Olivia could hear Elliot's voice on the other end of the phone as she sat in White's lap. She no longer cared about her own safety, as long as Elliot got away "Elliot just run!" she screamed "Get back up!"

"Shut up bitch," White snapped as he tightened his grip once again.

Olivia once again began gasping for air.

White returned to speaking with Elliot again without loosening his grip on Olivia "I wouldn't do that Detective," his tone was mocking, almost sing song "If I hear a single siren or see any other cops besides you, I will kill her,"

Elliot's heart flew into his throat "No," he whispered hoarsely. He never thought that he could actually lose her but in this situation that seemed more and more hopeless by the minute, he found their whole partnership flashing through his mind. He knew that he was unable to live without her "What do you want," he conceded.

White laughed, he knew that he had Elliot right where he wanted him "Keep coming to this side of the wear house," was White's only instruction.

"Okay, okay," Elliot said softly.

"I knew you would," White replied, sneering menacingly at Olivia.

She felt her heart sink. It didn't look like White would let either of them get out alive. She resigned herself to doing whatever was necessary to make sure that Elliot got away.

TBC

A/N: Please tell me if you want more. I know I've got so many stories going but this one was just calling to me recently. The next chapter will almost certainly be rated M.


	2. Chapter 2

Infamous

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Well I own the three "lesser" bad guys but that's it.

A/N: Thank you, thank you everyone who reviewed. I would love to take the time to thank you all but I'm afraid of leaving someone out. But ya'll know who you are so just wanted to say that ya'll are my sunshine, my only sunshine (okay a little on the sappy side there) I love getting reviews so thanks again. Also I think that this story will actually remain rated T for at least another chapter or so.

Olivia's head began to swim as she continued to gasp for air. She was cursing herself for ever getting into a situation like the one she was currently in as she prayed that White would loosen his grip on her throat before she passed out.

White saw that she was having a hard time breathing and although he was enjoying watching her struggle, he didn't want her to pass out because he knew that she would be no fun if she was unconscious. He relaxed his grip just enough so that she could breathe without difficulty.

Olivia could still hear Elliot's voice coming over the cell phone but White seemed to be ignoring him.

"Let her go," Elliot was begging, he was actually begging.

White stood up taking Olivia with him and took a few steps forward. Without saying a word to Elliot, White hung up the cell phone and tossed it aside. White motioned to the man who held the gun for him to hand it over.

As the gun passed in front of her face Olivia knew that it was time to make her move. Although White had her by the neck, her arms were relatively free and in the brief instant that the gun wasn't trained on her, she struck.

The gun flew about twenty feet before coming to rest at the feet of Elliot, who had just reached their position. Elliot picked up the gun and pointed it at White "Let her go!" he commanded.

White was undaunted by this new development, he shifted so that he was behind Olivia. He was taller than Olivia and his shoulders were broader but the message was clear 'just how good of a shot are you?'

Olivia brought her right foot up behind her hard so that the back of her shin made contact with White's crotch.

White winced in pain but refused to let go of Olivia. In fact he once again tightened his grip around her neck this time completely shutting off her air supply. Elliot watched helplessly as his partner was strangled right before his eyes.

It was at this time that the three other men decided that they'd better go while the going was good and they fled the ware house, unnoticed by Elliot or by White for that matter.

Olivia struggled for air. She saw the horrified expression on Elliot's face and knew that she couldn't give up now, if she died she knew that he would blame himself and she cared about him too much for that.

She put her last ounce of strength into one final move. She thrust her elbow backwards as hard as she could into White's stomach. She was successful, she knocked all of the air out of him and he fell to the ground, releasing his grip on her throat.

Olivia collapsed to the ground beside White. She tried to get up but White was the first to recover. He grabbed her and slammed her head hard against the cement floor, she blacked out instantly.

White picked her up in his arms. At that moment Elliot made his move. While White's upper body was shielded by Olivia's unconscious form, his legs were not. Elliot made a split second decision and fired. He hit White in the right shin.

Startled, White dropped Olivia and deciding that it wasn't worth it at the moment, he took off running as fast as he could, which even though he had been shot in the leg, was pretty fast.

Elliot looked to the fleeing White and then to his unconscious partner. Deciding that White wouldn't get very far, Elliot rushed to Olivia's side.

"Liv?" he knelt on the floor beside her and felt for a pulse. He smiled when he felt it, her pulse was strong and defiant 'Just like you' he thought. He cradled her head in his lap as he used his radio to call for a bus and back up. Her eyes remained closed as he gently brushed some stray strands of hair from her face "You know," he began speaking to her softly "I'm so glad that your such a stubborn person," his eyes misted over "I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you," a tear escaped his eye and landed amidst her eyelashes.

Her eyes fluttered open "Is it raining in here?" she asked, a week smile crossing her lips.

"Oh thank God," Elliot said holding her closer.

Olivia let herself rest in his arms. She felt safe, protected, like she belonged there. Suddenly a thought occurred to her "White," she muttered as Elliot stroked her hair.

"I shot him in the leg," Elliot said "He won't get far. They'll pick him up soon."

Olivia wasn't so sure "Don't underestimate him," she said to Elliot "He's evil, you can't get rid of evil so easily."

The sirens could be heard in the background and both Olivia and Elliot breathed a deep sigh of relief. Help was not far off now, assured safety would be there soon.

Outside about a block away, White's injury was finally catching up to him. He cursed Crawford and those other two losers as he searched for some place to hide. He crawled into a dumpster in the vane hope that the smell of the garbage would mask his smell from any police dogs that they might send after him.

As he sat amongst the rotting trash, the smell of which made him want to wretch, and listened to the approaching sirens, he wrapped his jacket around the injured leg in an effort to stop the bleeding. He knew he couldn't stay in the dumpster long, there was a trail of his blood that led right to it and he would need medical attention for his leg.

'Its not over yet' he thought angrily 'Not by a long shot. The game continues, you've just made it more challenging," he smiled wickedly as he plotted his next step.

TBC

A/N: This chapter is shorter than the first but I felt like this was a good place to leave it. Please review if you want more.


	3. Chapter 3

Infamous

Disclaimer: I don't own them but my birthday is on Friday so maybe Dick Wolf would be so kind as to send me them for a present.

A/N: Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and as always reviews are more than welcome. This chapter contains spoilers for "Raw" in addition to the obvious spoilers for "Stalked"

Elliot sighed when he saw the paramedics approaching. He stood up from the floor, gently supporting Olivia. Olivia however wouldn't except his help with out an argument.

"I'm fine Elliot," she said as she attempted to pull away but she wavered slightly and found herself being supported in Elliot's gentle arms once more.

"Like hell you are," he told her as he helped her towards the paramedics "Lets just make sure okay?"

He spoke to her so gently and with such concern that she couldn't say no "Alright," she finally answered looking up at him with a smile in her eyes "but you owe me."

As Elliot laughed to himself at her last comment the paramedics started to examine her. It was then that Elliot noticed the dark bruising that had started to form around Olivia's throat. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, hoping that White was slowly and painfully bleeding to death in some God forsaken alley.

White had actually managed to stop the bleeding for the most part but he still needed surgery to remove the bullet. He was still sitting in the dumpster because he hadn't yet decided how he would make his getaway.

Suddenly he saw a UPS truck pull up in front of the building that was beside the dumpster. The delivery man hopped out and opened the back end of the truck. Removing a box, the man went up the stairs to the building where he was buzzed in by one of the building's residence.

As soon as the delivery man was out of site, White hopped out of the dumpster and gamely hobbled over to the truck. He hoisted himself into the back and managed to hide himself behind the remaining boxes just as the delivery man reappeared.

The man didn't notice that anything was wrong so he closed up his truck, hopped in the driver's seat and headed for his next delivery.

"See, I'm fine," Olivia proclaimed to Elliot when the paramedics had given her the all clear.

Elliot was not reassured by the way she still wobbled a little bit. He took her hand in his and they walked out of the ware house together "I'll drive you home," he told her.

"Elliot," she began in that 'you really don't need to be concerned about me' tone of hers.

"No," he cut her off "I'm gonna drive you home," he walked around to the driver's side door of his sedan and unlocked the doors.

Olivia knew that it was useless to argue with him "Can I at least have my gun back?" she asked, effectively reminding Elliot just why it was that he had her gun.

Elliot sank into his seat and carefully slid the gun, handle first, across to her. He sat in silence looking at the stearing wheel.

Olivia took the gun, double checking to see that the safety was engaged and holstered it. She noticed that Elliot wasn't saying anything and she attempted to stimulate the conversation "Hey," she began gently "What's on your mind?"

He looked up at her, their eyes met and she could see pain in his face "It was so hard to watch that," he choked out "I was helpless to do anything and it was so frightening."

She put a hand on his arm "It's okay," she attempted to reassure him "You couldn't have done anything more than you did."

Her words did little to soothe him "I watched you struggle for what very well could have been your last breath!" he yelled. He was frustrated "It scared me!" he shouted, he shouted because he didn't know how else to express his pain.

Olivia's eyes misted over "I'm sorry," she said softly, hanging her head.

"This isn't your fault," Elliot told her, his tone dropping several decibels. He wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let go "It was him. You shouldn't apologize at all. Nothing is your fault."

"I let this get too personal," she admitted, not at all caring that for the second time in the last hour, she lay in Elliot's arms.

"What?" Elliot asked, sounding only slightly surprised. Truthfully after the ware house, he was taking this case even more personally than he had when they had first found out about White's escape.

"He's supposed to be in jail," Olivia said matter-of-factly "We put him there because he is a sadistic bastard and he belongs there," she paused and once again met Elliot's gaze "and I was going to do anything I could to make sure that he went back."

Elliot nodded in understanding "I want him dead," he stated plainly.

"What?" Olivia asked, also not exactly surprised at what her partner had said. After all, White's last words to Elliot before they took him to jail implied that he had been stalking Elliot's family.

Elliot was silent. He saw understanding in Olivia's eyes and decided to drop it. He knew that Olivia was thinking about how White had threatened the kids. Truthfully it was that but in addition, Elliot was pissed off that White had ever laid a hand on his partner, his friend, the woman he…

"If we sit here any longer," Olivia said with just a hint of playfulness in her voice "People will start to worry about us."

Elliot decided to leave his train of thought where it was and he promptly put the car in drive.

The UPS truck was slowing down for its final delivery of the day. The driver stopped the truck in front of a house in Queens. As he got out of the truck he noticed that no one appeared to be home.

The delivery man yawned and thought about how good it would feel to go home and be with his wife. He hadn't had much time at home since he took this new job six weeks ago and he was looking forward to spending some time with her and the baby.

He opened the back of the truck and reached for the last box when something jumped out at him. He didn't have time to process what was happening before he fell to the ground.

"Chinese?" Olivia asked, coming out of her bedroom after changing. It had been decided that Elliot would by her dinner as payment for Olivia submitting herself to examination by the paramedics.

"Sounds good," Elliot said "Eat out or Take out?"

"Take out," she answered, sitting down on the couch and picking up the menu.

Elliot noticed that she had changed into a turtle neck in an attempt to cover the bruising on her neck and his heart broke for her 'You shouldn't have to do that' he thought 'those bruises shouldn't even be there. I'm sorry'

"What do you want?" She asked him as she picked up the phone

He came back to himself quickly "Um... hot and sour soup and shrimp lo mien."

Olivia nodded and placed their order. After being told that it would take thirty minutes for delivery she hung up and turned to Elliot "So want to watch TV?"

He nodded and the two of them settled into the comfort of her couch and waited for the food to arrive.

After about ten minutes of flipping through channels and finding nothing good on, Olivia finally turned off the TV and turned to Elliot "Elliot," she began "How have things been going. It seems like," she paused and looked down at her lap feeling a bit ashamed "It seems like we haven't really talked in ages."

Elliot nodded. He had been trying to keep Olivia in the dark in regards to his personal life lately and he knew it, although he wasn't quite sure why it was that he had so drastically shut her out. The last time he had let anything slip to her about his marriage was in the hospital when she had been so adamant about informing Kathy that he had been shot and he had told her that Kathy had filed for divorce and that he had the papers at home. In his mind Elliot could still see the hurt look on her face that she had tried to hide when he had changed the subject so quickly.

"Things are alright," he told her somewhat guiltily "I think Kathy and I can work out the custody of the twins."

Olivia felt a spark of hope that he had opened up to her just a bit "That's great," she said "and other than that. How are you doing?"

Elliot looked into her face and saw her pure intentions. He felt so comfortable talking to her. He realized that he should have talked to her about these things all along, he realized that having someone to talk to would have made the last year a whole lot easier. He took her hand in his and answered honestly "It was hard at first but I'm doing a lot better now."

She smiled at him and leaned close to him. She found herself resting on his shoulder with his strong arms wrapped around her.

'This just feels right,' Elliot said to himself as he held her. He returned to his earlier thoughts. Could it be possible, no the possibility wasn't even a question, it just was, he was, definitely, without any question, he definitely…

The buzzer went off. Olivia reluctantly separated herself from Elliot and went to answer it. It was the delivery boy from the restaurant.

Olivia let him up and paid him for the food. She walked quickly into the kitchen and began to set the items from the bag on the counter.

She wasn't even focusing on the food. It felt so right to be with Elliot. It felt so wonderful to have him talking to her. It was so perfect to have him over at her place for something as simple as Chinese take out. She had no idea how much she had really missed him until this moment. Could it be possible, no there was no 'could' about it, it was, she was…

The shrill ringing of Elliot's cell phone brought her back to her kitchen.

"Stabler," he answered.

"Elliot," Cragen's voice came through the phone clear enough that Olivia could here it.

"Did you find him?" was Elliot's first question. He needed to know that White was off the street.

"No," Cragen answered. To Elliot it sounded like Cragen was as disappointed as Elliot himself was "Elliot we have a new victim."

Elliot's heart flew up into his throat "White," he whispered, although Olivia could easily hear him.

Olivia inched closer so she could hear the captain's voice more clearly.

"We're pretty sure that he's the perp," Cragen informed Elliot.

"How can you be sure?" Elliot asked, trying to cover the sound from the phone with his hand. Olivia only inched closer and brushed his hand aside with hers. Elliot's eyes met hers and everything in her eyes said 'I deserved to hear this too,' so he let his hand fall aside.

"The vic," Cragen began "had Olivia's name carved into his chest."

TBC

A/N: Well this is chapter 3. I really need to know what you guys think. Love it, hate it, I need to know. Please don't make me beg… oh wait that's what I'm doing... sorry. Anyway please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Infamous

Disclaimer: I'm still hoping to get them for my birthday, until then I don't own them.

A/N: It looks like 2006 is the year of Richard White. I encourage everyone who reads this story to also read "Stalked" by svu101 and "On Borrowed Time" by future consequences. They are really awesome stories which also have Richard White as the villain. They are unique and I know you will like them.

A/N2: Here's chapter 4.

Elliot headed towards the door with every intention of going to the crime scene alone. Olivia wouldn't let him get away so easily, she grabbed him by his arm "Elliot," she said softly.

He turned to her "Not this time Olivia," he began "You stay here where I know that you're safe."

That was it "WHERE YOU KNOW I'M SAFE?" she screamed, infuriated "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO?"

He held her close to his chest and she could hear his heart beating entirely too fast "Please," he began "I can't lose you. Please stay here."

Olivia's tone softened but she remained firm in her resolve "Nothing's gonna happen," she said pulling slightly away from him and laying a hand on his cheek "Why are you so worried all of a sudden?"

Elliot stared silently at her before drawing her back into his embrace 'I wish I could tell you,' he thought as he held her 'I'm just afraid of what will happen when I do.'

"Elliot," she said, finally separating from his arms "They're expecting someone to show up at that crime scene," she grabbed her coat and began to put it on.

It hadn't been easy to pull away from Elliot, it had just felt so right to be with him like that, it felt so safe. She knew that he only wanted to keep her safe but she had to be out there with him. She couldn't trust anyone else to protect her partner the way she knew that she could.

"Olivia," Elliot began again, in another futile effort to get her to stay behind.

"Elliot," she countered in a firm voice "Are you driving or am I?" and with that she was out the door.

Elliot shrugged and followed her "I'll drive," he said as he came up beside her and snatched the keys from her hand.

"Is this the right place?" Olivia asked as Elliot stopped the car in front of the 1-6.

"Yeah," Elliot answered grimly.

"In front of our precinct?" Olivia asked in total shock.

"More like the alley next to it but essentially yes," Elliot said as he got out of the car.

"But Elliot," Olivia began "this place is crawling with cops. How could he have done this?"

"I don't know," Elliot said softly, reaching for her hand as they turned down the alley that led to the crime scene. Still holding hands, the two made there way to where Dr. Warner was preparing to take the body to the morgue.

"What have we got?" Elliot asked her.

"Your victim is a male. Possibly late twenties," Dr. Warner began, looking up at the detectives "Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head."

"Any clue as to who he is?" Olivia asked.

"No," Warner answered "He had no wallet, no ID. The only thing that was found with the body were these," she held up a plastic evidence bag containing clothing.

Olivia took the bag and stared in disbelief "He was wearing these?" she asked softly.

"They were folded up next to the body," Warner informed her.

Olivia held the bag out to Elliot with shaking hands "The clothes that White was wearing," she said in a small voice.

Elliot took the bag and stared at the clothes himself. They were unmistakably White's clothes. Elliot gripped Olivia's hand tighter and turned to Warner "Rush the finger prints. Hopefully we'll get lucky. Who ever this guy is, White has assumed his identity."

"How long has he been dead?" Olivia asked.

"Rigor hasn't set in yet," Warner told her "So I'm guessing two to four hours."

"Are we looking at a dump job?" Elliot asked, almost positive that a dump job was the only way to explain a body found next to a police station.

"Looks like it," Warner said, unzipping the body bag to show them her findings.

Olivia caught her first glimpse of her name staring back at her from the man's chest. She felt physically ill and then she saw the rest of the man. His penis and testicals were missing.

"He wanted to make sure that SVU was called," she said, unconsciously inching closer to Elliot.

"Looks that way," Warner said softly, then she continued "It looks like our John Doe here was transported here in a vehicle."

"How can you tell?" Elliot asked.

Warner pointed to the man's right shoulder and with her finger she indicated an indent that traveled diagonally down the man's torso "He was belted in to the passenger seat," she motioned for a tech to help her turn the body over. She pointed to the reddish discoloration on the back of the man's thighs "Lividity indicates that he was put in a sitting position not long after he died."

Elliot put his arm around Olivia's waste "Thanks Doc," he said to Warner "You'll let us know when you get the results from those finger prints?" Warner nodded and Elliot led Olivia away from the scene.

"Well," Elliot said when they had reached the mouth of the alley "We're already here. Shall we get to work?" She nodded and the two of them walked inside the precinct. Elliot hadn't even noticed that his arm was still around Olivia until they had entered the squad room.

Captain Cragen noticed them immediately. While he seemed unsurprised to see Elliot, his reaction to Olivia was different "Olivia, you should be at home," it was an order but it was spoken without harshness but instead with concern.

"Captain," she began "I need to be here."

"After this afternoon," Cragen spoke to her, his voice quavering slightly "You should take some time off."

"I can't," she said, her own voice shaking just slightly.

"Okay," Cragen said, although his body language told a different story than his mouth did. Truthfully he would have felt much better if Olivia would just stay home. He trusted her and loved her like she was his own daughter but there was just something about having to chase down White again that didn't sit right with him.

Olivia and Elliot took there places by the bulletin board which was bare of even crime scene photos for the moment and addressed the captain, Munch and Fin.

"We don't have an ID on the vic as of yet," Olivia began. All assembled leaned forward an anticipation of what was coming next.

White parked the truck outside of a hospital in upstate New York. It had taken him hours to get there but it would be worth it if he could avoid too many questions. He knew that he was going to have a hard time explaining how a UPS delivery man had managed to get shot in the leg with out having to dodge the cops as well.

He pulled out the wallet that he had lifted off the body of the man he had killed and opened it. Quickly he memorized the information.

His new name for the moment was Damian Baker. He quickly memorized the social security number. Then he noticed the age on the ID 'This could be a problem,' he thought to himself. White himself was fifty one and he had the slightly graying hair to prove it but Damian Baker was twenty seven.

White sighed and inhaled sharply at the pain in his leg. He would have to come up with another plan to get the bullet out of his leg.

"Finger prints on our John Doe!" John Munch announced to the entire squad room as he entered.

"He has a record?" Elliot asked, standing up from his desk.

"Damian Baker. He and his family were victims of a home invasion two months ago," Munch explained "They printed the family for elimination purposes."

"Let's go inform the family," Olivia said, hopping out of her seat.

"Hold on Liv," Elliot said, laying a hand on her shoulder "Its 2:30 in the morning. Now is not a good time."

Olivia stopped and nodded. In her absolute need to find White and the other three men and her absolute frustration with being stuck at her desk while homicide detectives were doing the searching, she had lost track of time and was more than eager to do anything that would get her out of the office.

Cragen came out of his office and walked straight to Munch "So what did this Mr. Baker do for a living?" he asked.

"He was a driver for UPS," Munch answered "Fin's over there now. It seems that Mr. Baker's truck is still MIA."

Jake Emerson sat at the computer in the UPS main office. He was feeling more and more uncomfortable with the man leaning over his shoulder "I think I can pull up the license plate number," he said nervously "Just give me a minute," a few more key strokes and he had it.

"Do you have any way to track it?" Fin asked.

"You bet," the young man answered, glad that he was in fact being of some use. After all, he was very anxious Jake and Damian had been child hood friends and the news of Damian's murder came as a shock to Jake who now felt like he would do anything to catch the ass who took away one of the finest people who ever lived.

As Jake pulled up the GPS tracking software and set Fin up with the hand held unit, all he could think about was how he was going to break the news to Susan and how little Emma would never know her father.

"Thanks man," Fin said as he turned to leave.

"Good luck," Jake said softly as the sound of the door closing behind Fin reverberated in his ears.

Jake shut down the computer, informed his supervisor that he was leaving then he went out to his car. He opened the door, slipped into his seat, turned the key in the ignition. He thought about heading home, it was late and he needed sleep but he had been living in Damian's spare bedroom and going home meant facing Susan. Jake didn't want to have to explain to her why her husband wouldn't be coming home ever again. He turned the car off, tipped his seat back and deciding to spend the night in his car, tried to fall asleep. He wasn't able to.

"Go home you two," Cragen said to Olivia and Elliot. It was 3:00am and he could see the exhaustion in both their faces.

Olivia nodded and rose from her seat.

"I'll drive you home," Elliot said as he followed her out of the precinct.

"I would hope so," she said somewhat playfully "You still have my keys."

"You want me to come in with you?" Elliot asked as they pulled up in front of her building.

"Yeah," she answered. Olivia wasn't in the mood to be alone.

Olivia waited for Elliot on the sidewalk while he parked her car. A shiver went up her spine and she turned around. There was no one there. She felt shaky, she could have sworn that she heard someone behind her.

As she stared at the place where she thought someone had been, she jumped at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Elliot "I'm gonna kill you," she said more than a little startled.

"You okay?" he asked, drawing her close.

"I just… today… its been," she searched for the words to express exactly just what she was feeling.

Elliot new what she meant "Let's go inside," he said.

Jenna Stevens washed her hands as she prepared to leave the hospital. It was 3:30 and she was exhausted. She knew that when she finished her residency things would only get more hectic but she just loved helping people.

She walked out into the hospital parking lot. The buddy system was something for big cities 'What could possibly happen in a small town like this,' she thought to herself as she unlocked her car.

She was about to get in when she felt someone behind her and a knife pressed against her throat.

TBC

A/N: I started writing this chapter when I was still 21 but since its after midnight in Massachusetts, I am now 22. Please review, I need the feed back, I crave it.


	5. Chapter 5

Infamous

Disclaimer: Well my birthday came and went and they weren't among my gifts so I still don't own them.

A/N: Thank you everybody for all the wonderful reviews and all the wonderful birthday wishes. It was a wonderful birthday in spite of what I have already mentioned in the disclaimer. I hope ya'll like this next chapter.

4:00am

Jenna squirmed in the trunk of her own car. The man who had grabbed her had locked her in it and was currently driving somewhere. She felt around the trunk for something that she could use as a weapon. Her breathing came fast in spite of her efforts to stay calm. Her heart pounded so loudly that she could barely hear the hum of the cars engine, although she needed to keep her attention on it. She knew that as long as the car was moving, as long as he was driving, she was safe, well she wouldn't be hurt at least.

When the man had forced her into the trunk, she had noticed the jacket that was tied around his right shin. She figured that he had to be injured in that leg. If she could just find something to defend herself, she could make a run for it but the trunk was completely empty.

She clenched her eyes shut and tried not to cry. Losing her cool now wouldn't help, she had to remain collected, composed, calm but how was she supposed to do that when she had just been kidnapped at knife point by a psycho.

Jenna felt the car stop moving. Her heart skipped a beat. Then she heard the engine shut off and the driver's side door open. Her heart jumped into her throat. She heard the man groan as he obviously put too much weight on his injured leg. Her stomach somersaulted. She heard the key turn in the trunk and saw it open above her head. Her heart felt like it would explode from fear.

6:30am

The shrill ringing of Olivia's phone woke her up. She groaned as she rolled over to answer it. She had only managed to get to sleep twenty minutes ago. After they had gotten up to her apartment, Elliot had made himself comfortable on the couch and Olivia had crashed into her bed but she had found it impossible to sleep. Images of what White and those other men could be doing to people invaded her mind's eye every time she closed her eyes. Finally her body had been too tired to fight anymore and sleep won out. And now her phone had to go and ring.

She groggily reached over and pawed through the belongings that lay on her night stand until she found her phone "Benson," she answered, still sounding a little asleep.

"Olivia," came Captain Cragen's voice "Sorry to bother you but I need you back at the house on the double."

"Why?" she asked still sounding a little out of it.

"Munch and Fin found the UPS truck," he stated plainly.

Olivia was out of bed in a second "I'll be right there," she said, pulling on clothes and gathering together her badge and gun.

"See you there," Cragen said as he hung up the phone.

Olivia hung up her phone and stuck it in the pocket of the jeans she had just pulled on. She was about to head into the living room to wake Elliot when she heard his cell phone ring.

She smiled to herself as she listened to him emit the same irritated groan before he answered.

"Stabler," Olivia listened to Elliot's side of the conversation "Hi Cap… No its ok, I couldn't get to sleep anyway… What… We'll be right there… Bye."

Olivia smiled to herself when she heard him say "we". As far as she knew, Cragen had no idea that Elliot was staying at her apartment. She wondered if the captain would pick up on the change in words. She herself had been careful to say "I" to keep from arousing any suspicions.

"So," Olivia began as she exited her room "you couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"Not much," he answered as he gathered together his belongings.

"I know I'll sleep a lot better when we get these guys off the streets," Olivia said over her shoulder as she went into the kitchen.

"I'll sleep better when I know you're safe," Elliot said half to himself.

"What was that?" Olivia asked coming back from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Elliot began seeming a bit shaken. He wondered just how much Olivia had heard "I was just agreeing with you," Olivia seemed to except his explanation and Elliot sighed.

"Here," Olivia said, tossing a granola bar at him.

"What's this for?" he asked, as he put his phone into his pocket.

"Breakfast," she answered simply as she pulled on her coat and unwrapped her own granola bar.

"You know Liv," he began as he put his own coat on "I'm more of a cereal and milk kind of guy."

"No time," she said, heading for the door.

"I don't really like granola bars," he protested.

Olivia stopped and turned to him with just the smallest hint of a smile dancing in her eyes "It's gonna be a long day. The granola bar will fill you up and give you energy. We won't have time to stop for anything else. Plus its all I have," she opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

"Your point is?" he asked as he walked beside her towards the elevator.

When they had reached the elevator she turned to him "My point is," she began, smiling at him ever so slightly "Eat the dam thing!"

Just then the elevator doors opened and she stepped in. Elliot followed, slipping the granola bar into his pocket 'for later' he thought as he leaned against the back wall of the elevator.

10:00am

Elliot pulled the squad car into a parking space in the parking lot of the upstate New York hospital. He turned to Olivia "This is it," he said as he opened the door and got out.

"He must have come here to get treatment for his gun shot wound," Olivia speculated as she walked beside him to where Munch and Fin stood, next to the abandoned UPS truck.

"Have you got him?" Elliot asked, hoping that the answer was yes.

Munch shook his head "We were waiting for you, this is your collar."

"We haven't seen him leave the hospital," Fin said "he should still be in there."

Olivia nodded and headed for the doors. Elliot followed her. When they got inside they headed for the front desk of the ER.

"Benson, Stabler from the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD," Olivia said, flashing her badge at the receptionist.

The mousy looking woman looked up at them "How can I help you?"

Olivia wasted no time "Was a Mr. Damian Baker admitted last night?"

The woman turned to her computer and began typing. She pulled up a file and began scrolling through it "No," she said contemplatively "he doesn't seem to be listed here."

Olivia wasn't going to give up yet "Can you give me a list of all the people who were admitted last night with gun shot wounds?"

The woman gave Olivia an appraising look "We don't see the kind of action you see in the big city," she told Olivia in a slightly sardonic tone.

"What does that mean?" Elliot asked, stepping forward and finally joining the conversation.

The woman seemed to be looking at Elliot the same way she had looked at Olivia "It means," she began, speaking to Elliot as though he was a complete idiot "that there were no gun shot wounds treated or reported at this hospital last night or for the last week or even for the last month."

"Thank you," Elliot said in a tone that made it obvious to the woman that she had been absolutely no help and frustrating to boot. He and Olivia turned and left the hospital.

"She was a breath of fresh air," Olivia said sarcastically as they walked across the parking lot.

"Yeah and so helpful," Elliot responded in his own sarcastic tone.

"If White didn't get admitted to the hospital," Olivia began.

"Then where the hell is he?" Elliot finished.

They walked towards the place where CSU techs had just begun combing the UPS truck for evidence. Suddenly Olivia's foot struck something and she stumbled just a little.

"Are you alright?" Elliot asked as he steadied her.

"I'm fine," she said as she reluctantly pulled herself out of his arms. She bent down to see what exactly it was that had caused her to trip. She picked up an object and held it up to the light.

"What is that?" Elliot asked, moving closer to get a better look at it.

"I'm not sure," Olivia said in a thoughtful tone "it looks like a cell phone but…"

"It looks like someone ran over it with a car," Elliot concluded.

10:53am

"Jenna!" Gary called as he used the key that she had given him just last week to let himself into the house. He saw no sign of her in the front hall when he hung his coat up and he began to get worried.

He moved through the house, pausing to place the bag of groceries that he had bought on the kitchen table. He knew she had been working really hard that week and they had planned to spend the day together. He hadn't heard from her so far that day but he assumed that it was because she was probably still sleeping.

He approached her bedroom and strained to hear her snores. He didn't hear anything even when he pressed his ear right against the bedroom door. Thinking that she was playing a trick on him, he opened the bedroom door as quietly as possible and crept into the room.

She wasn't in the bed so he crept toward the closet. Under his weight one of the boards made a creaking noise and he half expected Jenna to jump out and tackle him. He grasped the door knob of the closet and prepared to open it. He braced himself for the impact that would surely come.

"I got you!" he yelled as he opened the door. When he saw that there was no one on the other side, no Jenna to jump out and hug him, no unexpected tackle that would land him flat on the floor, no tightening sensation in his pants as the woman he loved embraced him, he became worried.

He left the bedroom and ran through the house screaming her name "Jenna! Jenna! Come on, this isn't funny! I give up! Jenna!"

11:30am

"Bitch!" Jenna felt herself pushed to her back among the undergrowth of the forest. She had done her best to remove the bullet from the man's leg and bandage him up with the limited tools from her bag in the car. The procedure had taken several hours and she had tried to inform him that he still ran a high risk of infection but he wouldn't listen to her. All he had done the entire time was to tell her to "Shut up" and now that she had done all that he asked of her, it seemed as though this man was going to kill her.

The man bent over her and pinned her wrists above her head with one hand. With the other hand he slowly removed her pants.

Realization dawned on Jenna and she knew just what it was that this man intended to do. She tried to fight him off but he was strong. Then she saw her opportunity. The man shifted his position long enough that his bandaged leg came into view. She struck out with her left foot and hit him square in the wounded area.

The man screamed in pain and fell backwards. Jenna didn't even stop to retrieve her pants, she just took off running, she didn't even care what direction she was going in, just as long as she got away from that man.

11:45am

Olivia's cell phone rang "Benson," she answered. They were having no luck with the UPS truck, it provided no clues to where White might have gone. She was hoping that this call would tell her whether the crushed cell phone they had found could be related in any way to White.

Elliot stood protectively next to his partner, only catching bits and pieces of the conversation she was having. He found himself distracted by thoughts of who that phone might have belonged to and what could have happened to them.

"Okay thank you," Olivia said as she hung up the phone. She turned to Elliot and the look on her face told him that the news wasn't good "It seems," she began "that the cell phone we found belongs to a Dr. Jennifer Stevens. Her boyfriend just reported her missing, says he hasn't heard anything from her since last night. Apparently her supervisor says that she left last night at around three thirty."

Elliot swallowed a lump in his throat "And witnesses first noticed the truck in the parking lot at around two thirty."

"Why would White snatch her?" Olivia asked pensively.

"Damian Baker is a lot younger than White," Elliot through out, hoping that this brainstorming would lead somewhere.

"White can't pretend to be half his age," Olivia continued.

"He couldn't go into the hospital without arousing suspicion," Elliot kept going with the train of thought "He's a wounded animal, he feels like the walls are closing in on him."

"And a wounded animal does what it knows best," Olivia pondered aloud.

"He snatches a woman," Elliot said, realization beginning to strike.

"A doctor," Olivia added.

"Someone he thinks he can control,"

"Someone he thinks can help him."

"And when he's done with her," Elliot said in a grave tone.

Olivia picked up on his train of thought immediately, even though she didn't like it "He'll kill her,"

TBC

A/N: I added some crude timestamps to make it easier to tell the passage of time. I hope it helps.


	6. Chapter 6

Infamous

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

11:50am

Jenna ran so fast that she lost both her shoes. Her breathing came fast, she felt like she couldn't run anymore but she knew she couldn't stop. She wasn't even sure if the man was still following her but she didn't want to find out. She had no idea where it was she was running to, all she needed to know was what it was she was running away from.

She tripped over a branch that lay on the ground in front of her. She went flying and landed on her face. She tried to pick herself up and stumbled a few more feet before collapsing again. She crawled to a nearby tree and leaned against it. It was at this point that she realized that no one was following her. She sighed and pulled her naked legs up to her chest.

She listened to the sounds of the forest. Birds and squirrels were the only things she heard. There was no sound of footsteps and while that meant that the man was not in pursuit, it meant that salvation was not on its way either.

'They must know that I'm missing by now' she thought to herself. She knew that Gary would have reported her missing as soon as he came over and found out she wasn't there. Gary, she knew he would have to be worried out of his mind. She wished Gary was with her. He would know exactly what to do. He would help her. She leaned her chin between her knees and drifted off to sleep.

12:00pm

Olivia and Elliot stood in the midst of a group of local uniforms they were coordinating the search operation with "The man we're looking for is extremely dangerous!" Olivia began, raising her voice so that all assembled could hear her.

"He's been shot in the leg!" Elliot continued "We believe that he kidnapped Dr. Stevens for her medical expertise!"

"We'll split up and cover these areas!" Olivia said, pointing to a map that Munch held up that effectively blocked his face from everyone's view.

"Remember!" Elliot called out as the group began to disperse "This man is extremely dangerous! No one is to attempt to apprehend him without calling for back up first!"

All the local officers took off in their separate directions and Olivia made as if to follow them. Elliot put a hand on her arm. She turned to him "Elliot, what is it?"

"Do you think you should be out there?" he asked.

She stared him down with a hard defiance that he was very used to by now "I will not stay behind while White is still out there," she turned and took a few steps before she spoke again "You can either come with me or stay here."

"Munch, Fin!" Elliot called over his shoulder as he went after Olivia "You stay here and coordinate the search!"

Olivia walked down the street of the small town at a healthy clip. She just had to find this woman and soon. Olivia knew that it was her that White really wanted any other people were just obstacles in his path. She would take him down, no matter what the cost to herself.

Elliot walked beside her. He knew what was going through her mind, that she was blaming herself for this, that anything that happened to Dr. Stevens would make Olivia feel like her heart had been ripped from her chest and shown to her. Elliot knew these things because this was how he felt.

In his mind a million different scenarios played out in his head. But in the end there would have been no way to make sure Olivia was safe without shooting White. It all came down to fate, if the bullet had missed White entirely instead of hitting him in the leg, Elliot might not be walking beside his partner at this moment or ever again. He hoped that they would find Dr. Stevens in time. He didn't want to have saved one life by sacrificing another.

Olivia stopped suddenly she turned to her right and stepped off the sidewalk and into what appeared to be an expanse of trees and undergrowth.

"What are you doing Olivia?" Elliot asked.

She turned her head towards him "Doesn't this just seem like the perfect out of the way place to hide?"

He nodded in understanding and followed her down the crudely marked path into the trees.

12:30pm

Jenna's ears pricked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. She wasn't sure who it was and fear prickled her skin. Was it the man again?

She struggled to her feet and peered in either direction. She couldn't see anything through the thick trees around her. She started to inch around the tree that she was leaning against, in hopes that it would provide a suitable hiding place. She strained to hear anything more. She heard two sets of footsteps. Was there another man?

No. She heard voices. A man and a woman and the man was not the one who had kidnapped her.

"This forest is so thick," Elliot said as once again a branch whacked him in the face.

"Poor guy," Olivia laughed as she saw a trickle of blood come from his latest scratch.

Jenna knew that this was her chance to be rescued. She couldn't pass up this opportunity. She stepped out from behind the tree "Hello," she called tentatively at first.

"Did you hear that?" Olivia asked as she stopped.

"Yeah I think I did," Elliot answered, turning in the direction the sound had come from. All he could see was trees.

"Is anyone there?" Olivia called.

"Yes!" Jenna called "I need some help!"

"Dr. Stevens?" Elliot asked.

"Yes!" Jenna answered again "Who are you?"

"I'm Olivia Benson," Olivia began in a softer tone as she approached the place where Jenna stood "That," she pointed back behind her towards Elliot "is Elliot Stabler. We're detectives," she finally reached Jenna and reached a hand out towards the woman "Are you okay Dr. Stevens?"

"Please call me Jenna," the half naked doctor said shakily "and yeah he didn't hurt me."

Olivia removed her jacket and gave it to Jenna to wrap around her waist "C'mon, Lets get you out of here."

"Thank you so much," Jenna said as she followed Olivia.

Olivia took in Jenna's appearance "Jenna," she said kindly "What happened to your pants?"

Jenna wavered and Olivia could see tears forming in her eyes "He held me down," she said softly "He ripped them off," the tears fell "I ran."

Olivia held the woman close to her as she cried "Where is he now Jenna?" Olivia asked. Normally she wouldn't push a victim this hard, this soon but she really wanted to find White and make him pay.

"Back there," Jenna pointed in the direction that she had run from.

"Okay," Olivia said softly as she continued to walk back to where Elliot stood "Let's get to the police station and you can give your formal statement there."

Elliot started up the path with Jenna following and Olivia bringing up the rear. They walked in silence for a long time. When they had almost reached the road that signified there return to civilization, Elliot turned to ask Olivia something but Jenna was the only one there.

"Olivia!" he called as he and Jenna emerged from the forest.

"Where did she go?" Jenna asked "I didn't notice her leave or anything."

Elliot pulled out his cell phone and called Munch "We found Dr. Stevens," was the first thing he said. Quickly he provided Munch with their location and then his voice slowed "and Munch… I think Olivia's gone after White on her own."

12:40pm

Olivia made her way carefully through the forest undergrowth. She had turned off her phone so as not to have it give her location away to White. She kept an eye out for recently disturbed brush as she crept carefully past the place where they had found Jenna.

About fifty yards later she found what was obviously one of Jenna's missing shoes another couple hundred yards along, she found the other one. It was clues such as this that told her she was on the right track.

She was sure that White still had access to Jenna's car and could very well be speeding away to God knows where at that very moment. Olivia was hoping to get the jump on him before he did, although she knew that it was a vein hope.

She could almost hear the conversation that she would have with Elliot efter this latest move of hers.

"What were you thinking?" he would say, probably angrily.

"We knew he had the car Elliot and he hadn't gone after Jenna. He wasn't just gonna sit around and wait for us to find him," her defense would be shot back with force equal to that of Elliot.

"And if he had been waiting and you found him without backup, what then?" would be his next question.

"I had my gun," would that be a good enough response?

"Your gun didn't do you all that much good the last time," would be Elliot's defense to the gun explanation. His voice would crack, his eyes would mist over.

As Olivia crept through the undergrowth she imagined the pain that she had just caused Elliot. Dam it she was an idiot. In her overwhelming desire to find White, in her need to get justice for the victims she was turning Elliot into a victim. She was turning Elliot into a victim of her own stupidity.

It was too late to turn back now she realized as she came upon a pair of pants that had been discarded among the brambles. Her heart gave a small jump of sadness when she thought of the fear that Jenna must have felt when White was pinning her down.

She sat on the forest floor and pulled the pants into her lap. She thought of Elliot, she had abandoned Elliot, she had promised to be careful and she had just taken a stupid risk. Luckily she thought, nothing bad would come of this risk.

"I'll be back safe Elliot," she said out loud, forgetting that she might not be alone in the woods "and then I'll tell you just how sorry I am, just how much you mean to me, I'll tell you that I-" she was cut off by a sharp blow to the back of her head.

TBC

A/N: I'm evil. Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Infamous

Disclaimer: I wish I could take the credit but if I did then Dick Wolf would probably sue my ass off. So since I have very little money and I like my ass where it is, the credit goes to him (except for Jenna and the other original characters)

She heard someone behind her, her head ached where it had been hit. She tentatively turned her head and saw a little boy standing there.

"Hey, are you okay lady?" the boy asked as he came closer and picked up the baseball that had ricocheted off the back of her scull.

"Yeah," she answered, getting up off the ground.

"Are you mad?" the boy asked shyly.

"I'm not mad at you," she told him kindly and then something occurred to her "What are you doing here?" she asked the boy.

"My sister Karen and I came here to train," the boy said.

"Train for what?" Olivia asked, kneeling in front of the small boy.

"Little league," the boy answered "Karen wants to play but she's a girl so she and I came into the woods to train in secret."

Olivia felt for the little girl instantly. Wanting to succeed in a male dominated area of expertise, then she remembered that White could possibly still be in the woods and this boy and his sister could be in real danger "Where's your sister now?" she asked, the urgency evident in her voice.

"Over there," the boy pointed behind him but all that was visible was trees "Hey where'd she go?" the boy ran towards the trees "Karen!" he yelled.

"Wait!" Olivia said running after him frantically, not wanting to lose sight of him. She caught up with the boy "Be careful."

The little boy had tears in his eyes "I don't understand," he said "she was right there. The man said he'd keep an eye on her."

Olivia's heart stopped "What man?" she asked through the lump in her throat.

"Nice man," the boy said through his tears "He said he was a doctor. He showed Karen and me his stethoscope. He was showing Karen how to pitch and he threw the ball really far really fast. When we saw the ball hit you, he told me to go see if you were alright and that he would keep an eye on Karen for me."

Olivia's stomach turned, White had used her as a distraction so that he could get away with the little girl. To him she was just another bargaining chip, insurance. But why did this boy leave his sister alone with him, what exactly did parents teach their kids about strangers these days and for that matter, what kind of parents let their kids go into the woods alone? She pulled the crying child close to her "What's your name sweetie?"

The boy wiped his eyes on his sleeve "Byron Munson," he sniffled.

"Byron," Olivia smiled at the boy "that's a nice name. Don't worry, my friends and I will help you find your sister."

Byron began to cry again "We half to be back soon or Grandpa will be mad."

Olivia hugged the boy close and stroked his back "No he won't sweetie. I'll explain it to him."

Byron shook his head "No, Grandpa will be mad and then he'll…" Byron trailed off and buried his face in Olivia's shoulder.

"He'll what Byron?" Olivia asked softly. She was pretty sure that she knew the answer.

"When Grandpa wakes up," Byron began "He gets mad and he…" he paused and leaned in close to Olivia's ear and whispered "he hurts us."

Olivia felt tears come to her own eyes. She didn't want to know just how their grandfather hurt them, she could save those details for after they found Karen "How old is Karen?" she asked.

"She's six," Byron answered "I'm ten," he added proudly, holding up his tiny hands and displaying all of his fingers.

Olivia was shocked she would have guessed based on the boy's size that he was more like six or seven. It was evident that their grandfather didn't take very good care of them.

"Olivia!" a new voice invaded the forest. Olivia turned to see Elliot running towards them.

"Elliot, what are you-" she began but was cut off.

"Are you alright?" Elliot asked, out of breath. It was obvious that he had run the whole way there.

"I'm fine," Olivia said, standing up and taking a step toward Elliot "but we've got a new problem."

"Your name is Olivia?" Byron asked.

Olivia turned to the boy "Yes it is and this is my friend Elliot. We're police officers."

Byron looked conflicted all of a sudden "Grandpa says that policemen are bad. That they'll come in the middle of the night and take Karen and me away."

Olivia felt a lump in her throat again. This boy had definitely been through a lot of stuff in his short life. She knelt in front of him again "We won't take you away unless you want to go."

Byron smiled at her "Grandpa was wrong, you're nice," he paused again "My mommy's name was Olivia."

"I hate to interrupt," Elliot said leaning over and speaking just a few inches from Olivia's ear "but what is this new problem?"

"My sister is missing," Byron answered for Olivia "Olivia said that you would help me find her."

Olivia turned and whispered into Elliot's ear "White grabbed her," the color drained from Elliot's face immediately.

"I'll call Munch and Fin," he whispered back "Get our whole force of country cops on the case."

"The girls name is Karen Munson," Olivia told him as he opened his phone "Six years old."

"She has brown hair and blue eyes," Byron told Elliot.

Elliot finished talking on the phone and turned back to Olivia "Munch wants to know if we have a picture of her."

"Byron honey," Olivia put her arm around the little boy's shoulders "Are there pictures of Karen back at your Grandpa's house?"

Byron nodded somberly "Grandpa doesn't like it when people come to our house," he said, looking at his shoes.

"Well," Olivia said in a cheerful tone "This is important so I bet he'll make an exception."

"I'll come with you," Elliot said and the three of them joined hands and started off towards Byron's Grandfather's house.

"Shut up you little brat," White growled at the little girl who lay in the back seat of the car.

Karen continued to cry. She was very scared, she was even more scared than the time that her Grandpa had held her head under water for a long time because she had wet her pants and she had been really scared then.

This mean man had taped her wrists together really tight and they hurt and he had taped her feet together really tight and he had put tape over her mouth. She missed her brother she didn't like being away from Byron. At least when Grandpa locked them in the closet Byron was there and he told her stories and then she wouldn't be so scared.

"Stop crying now!" White commanded the child.

When she wouldn't stop White pulled over to the side of the road. He assessed his location. He was still an hour and a half away from the city but he could afford to lose the excess baggage.

He pulled the little girl out of the back seat and walked a few yards into the woods. He dropped the child hard on the ground then turned around and headed back to his car.

Karen lay in the woods, more alone and scared then before. Where was her brother? Was she going to die? If she did that would mean that she'd get to see mommy again but she wanted Byron. She was scared to die.

"Is this where you live Byron?" Olivia asked. They stood in front of a disheveled cabin that didn't look big enough for one person let alone an old man and two active children.

Byron nodded "We go to school in town," he said.

Elliot climbed the two stares to the small porch and was about to knock on the door when Byron stopped him.

"No," Byron whispered urgently.

Olivia looked down at the boy, he was shaking "What's wrong sweetie?" she asked, pulling him close to her.

"You'll wake him up and then he'll be mad," Byron clung to Olivia's leg for dear life.

Elliot turned and knelt in front of the boy "He won't hurt you as long as Olivia and I are with you. Okay?"

Byron nodded and smiled at Elliot.

Elliot turned and knocked on the door "Mr. Munson?"

There was no answer from inside. Elliot knocked again "Mr. Munson?" he called again, still no answer. The third time Elliot knocked the door came off its hinges.

Elliot went inside cautiously, followed by Olivia and Byron.

"Oh my God," Elliot exclaimed as he stopped dead in his tracks.

TBC

A/N: Another evil cliffy WHAHAHAHAHAHA! Please review? By the way, the little boy is named Byron because his mother Olivia Munson was a fan of Lord Byron's poetry.


	8. Chapter 8

Infamous

Disclaimer: I own all original characters and Dick Wolf owns the interesting ones.

Elliot stared at the small and dirty room before him. Empty liquor bottles littered the floor, cigarette butts seemed to be everywhere, and dirty cardboard boxes took the place of furniture. The only thing that seemed clean and well taken care of was a long shelf of hunting rifles. In the middle of the room lay an old man. Although he was obviously at least seventy, he was an imposing figure, even lying down.

"This is absolutely horrific," Olivia whispered as she came up beside Elliot.

Elliot nodded and slowly approached the old man "Mr. Munson?" he said, shaking the old man harshly. The old man didn't move. It was at that point that Elliot realized that the man wasn't breathing. Quickly Elliot felt for a pulse, there was none.

"Olivia," he whispered, waving her over towards him "he's dead."

Olivia wasn't sure how she felt about the old man's death. She looked back at Byron who watched fearfully as his two new friends stood dangerously close to his unpredictably violent grandfather.

"What do we tell him?" Olivia asked Elliot, still in a whisper.

"We'll explain it to him later," Elliot whispered back "I don't want to tell him that he's standing in the same room with a dead body."

Olivia nodded then turned back to Byron. In a whisper she asked "Where's that picture of your sister?"

Byron led her over to a corner of the room. He opened up a door revealing a small closet "In here," he told her and retrieved a small framed photograph from within the dark recesses of the closet.

Olivia took the photo from the small boy and looked at it. It was a photo of a pretty young woman holding a baby, a small boy who was obviously Byron sat next to the woman.

"Is this the only picture you have?" Olivia asked, trying not to sound disappointed. A photo of a baby wouldn't be all that much help six years after the fact.

Byron nodded and pointed to the woman "That's my mom. We took that picture after Karen was born. Mom told me that I was a big brother now and I had to look out for her," Byron squeezed his eyes shut and Olivia could tell that he was trying to hold back tears.

Byron quickly looked back towards his grandfather. Elliot was still standing next to the dead man. Byron stared intently at his grandfather, he thought that he saw the man move and he was afraid that his grandfather had woken up.

"Look out Elliot!" Byron screamed, running behind Olivia's legs and hiding his face in his hands.

"What's wrong Byron?" Olivia said, turning and kneeling in front of the small boy. She saw that he was crying "What is it sweetie?"

"Run," Byron whispered "He'll hurt you."

Olivia looked at Elliot imploringly. Elliot nodded and came over to the two of them "Its okay Byron," Elliot began "He isn't going to hurt any one," Elliot didn't want to tell the boy that his grandfather was dead but it seemed like he had no choice.

"He will," Byron said, still watching the dead man apprehensively "He'll…" Byron trailed off and both Elliot and Olivia could see that he was pointing at the row of guns.

"Byron," Olivia tried to calm the boy "He won't hurt anyone. I promise."

"How do you know?" Byron asked fearfully.

Olivia sighed heavily "He can't hurt anyone because…" she looked at Elliot for support.

Elliot swallowed hard "Byron," he began, slowly in an attempt to stall, for what he wasn't sure "He can't hurt anyone because he's dead."

Byron shook violently "Ghost," was all he said.

Elliot and Olivia exchanged looks again. A new problem had presented itself. Between the two a silent conversation bounced within their line of sight, during which it was decided that Elliot as the experienced parent would field this topic.

"Ghosts can't hurt you," Elliot tried to reassure Byron.

"I wanna leave," Byron whispered shakily.

"Ok," Olivia said putting a hand on his shoulder. The picture that they had would have to do she decided as the three of them left the small dingy excuse for a home.

Karen shivered, not that it was cold but it was lonely. She was growing more terrified by the moment. Her wrists hurt from the tape because it was so tight. She was thirsty, she was hungry and she was scared.

She heard rustling off in the distance and she tensed up. She knew that there were lots of wild animals in forests that liked to eat little girls for dinner. She started to cry again.

"We'll just set him up with a sketch artist," Munch told Elliot and Olivia. Fin had taken Byron to get something to eat and the three remaining detectives were trying to get the search for Karen Munson off the ground.

"Oh that's just great Munch," Olivia said frustrated "and while he's working with the guy, White could be doing who knows what to that little girl."

"Olivia," Elliot said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She spun around to face him "No," she said "I'm sick and tired of sitting on my ass while White does what ever he wants to who ever he wants."

"You've done everything but sit on your ass Liv," Elliot reminded her "None of this is your fault. We'll find her."

"Those are just words Elliot. You know that as well as I do," she turned away from him.

"Look," Munch intervened in the developing fight "We have an APB on the car. That's something."

"He'll ditch it the first chance he gets," Olivia countered.

"Why the hell are you being so pessimistic?" Elliot asked, turning her to face him "We'll find her. We, will, find, her."

"I just…" she began "it feels like, like we could be doing more," she felt her legs give way and before she knew it Elliot was holding her close and stroking her hair.

"Olivia!" the three detectives turned to see Fin and Byron walking towards them.

"Hey," Olivia said as the boy ran up and hugged both her and Elliot "Did you have a nice lunch?"

"Yeah," he told her. Although he was still very sad and very scared he had warmed up to all four detectives very quickly.

"Byron, honey," Olivia said "Why don't you and Fin go play catch over there? Elliot and I have some more things to talk about."

Byron nodded, he may have been young but he could tell that they had to talk about him. After all, his grandfather was dead, who would take care of him? He was sad that they would probably send him away but he was obedient and went off with Fin to play catch.

"We can't just leave him in this town," Olivia said "The school system here let the abuse go on. I don't trust these people."

"You're really attached to him aren't you?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know its just that I don't think that this is a healthy environment to leave him in that's all," she told him in a pensive tone.

"I agree," Elliot said "We'll take him back to Manhattan with us. ACS can handle his case and he's almost guaranteed to have a better support system there."

"…I know but ACS… I don't want him to be one of those kids who falls through the cracks," she said, looking down at her feet.

"He can't fall any farther than he already has," Munch put in.

Just then Munch's phone rang "Munch," he answered it in his usual manner "Alright… Yes… Ok… Thanks…" he flipped his phone closed again "That was highway patrol. They spotted Jenna's car headed back into the city."

"He's gonna try and meet up with the others," Olivia said in realization.

"Fin and I will handle it," Munch told her "You go get that boy taken care of."

Olivia reluctantly nodded. She wanted to be chasing White but right now, Byron was more important. A little boy who in one day had lost his sister and his grandfather, although the latter wasn't going to be mourned much and the former could still be found. His needs came first. Olivia turned and headed to where Fin and Byron were playing catch.

Elliot was just about to follow her when Munch stopped him "Keep an eye on her," Munch told him.

"I will," Elliot promised "but she can do that herself."

"I know," Munch said, reassuring himself "but this case is getting to all of us. She's strong but she's close to the edge. Just don't let her fall."

Elliot nodded in understanding and although Munch's sudden insightfulness into Olivia's psyche was not typical Munch he appreciated the advice all the same. He turned and went to join Olivia and Byron.

"What was that about?" Fin, who had come back just in time to catch the last part of what John had said, asked.

"Just trying to give them a push in the right direction," Munch mused.

"What the hell are you talking about man?" Fin asked in a somewhat amused somewhat annoyed tone.

"You haven't noticed it?" Munch asked his partner.

"Noticed what?" Fin asked, this time his tone was complete annoyance.

"Those two are in love," Munch informed him as straightforward as if he had said 'The sky is blue' or 'Tax cuts favor the rich'.

"What makes you the expert on love?" Fin asked, the amusement returning to his voice "Just how much is it that you pay in alimony each month?"

"Enough," Munch deadpanned and then in a more serious tone "You haven't noticed the way they look at each other, the way they seem to read each other's thoughts sometimes. They're in love but they're to afraid to let each other know."

Fin looked at the way that his two friends interacted, the way they seemed to communicate through simple glances, the way the two of them smiled and fawned over the little boy "You have a point," he said finally "but why are you trying to push them? They'll figure it out on their own won't they?"

"If he's not careful," Munch said in a somber tone "he's gonna lose her. It shouldn't take a near death experience to bring them together.

Byron had fallen asleep in the back seat of the squad car. Olivia sat in the passenger seat, her head laying against the headrest. They were still an hour and a half away from the city and thanks to some nasty traffic a few miles back, it was twilight.

Olivia had been checking her voicemail messages every fifteen minutes. Even though the phone was on she didn't want to take the chance that she missed a call that would be the call that would either break the little boy in the back seat even further or give him some hope.

She dialed her voicemail again and was met with the same 'You have no new messages' message that she'd gotten the past twenty times.

"I'm sure they'll find her," Elliot reassured for the twenty first time as she flipped her phone closed and returned to staring blankly at the ceiling of the car.

"It's getting hopeless," she said sadly.

"Don't say that," Elliot said as he pulled off the road. Once the car was safely parked he took her hand in his "Hope is what gets us through the toughest times. You can't say that its hopeless. There's still hope."

She gave him a half hearted smile "I never figured you for an optimist."

"Optimism is a useful tool, you should try it sometime," he suggested.

"Alright," she shrugged. Then suddenly she tensed up "Stay here with Byron," she told Elliot as she grabbed the emergency flashlight from the floor of the car and got out.

"Olivia!" he called after her "What are you doing?"

She couldn't explain it to herself but she knew that she just had to go into the woods, that something was wrong.

Elliot didn't follow her instructions "Byron," he called into the back seat.

"Yeah," said the boy sleepily.

"I'll be right back, okay?"

"Ok," Byron said before falling asleep again.

Elliot got out of the car, made sure that it was locked and then ran after the retreating point of light that was Olivia's flashlight.

It was getting cold and Karen wanted to be anywhere else. She cried for her brother, she missed him very much, she really hated being alone. All of a sudden she heard a growl. She looked up and saw a large scary animal. She didn't recognize it but it was a coyote. Of course a coyote is only about the size of a medium sized dog but when you're six years old and lying on the ground and quite scared and its starting to get dark out, anything can be an enormous terrifying monster.

Karen tried to scream but her mouth was still taped so all she could manage was a frightened whimper. She was unable to move.

Olivia saw a small body lying on the ground. She felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. She saw the coyote, she didn't even think to grab her gun, when she saw the coyote make a lunge at the small figure on the ground Olivia just reacted.

"Get away from her!" Olivia screamed, swinging the flashlight at the coyote.

The coyote clamped onto the flashlight with its teeth and Olivia found herself staring into the face of one very pissed off animal. Still she tried to position herself between the coyote and the child.

The coyote managed to wrench the flashlight from Olivia's hand and it fell to the ground, the coyote lept at Olivia.

Olivia let out a small scream before another sound pierced the forest air. A single gun shot and then the coyote fell from mid leap and landed lifeless on the ground.

"My hero," Olivia said in a breathless attempt to sound sarcastic.

"Anytime," Elliot smiled as he holstered his gun "You okay?"

"Yeah," Olivia answered and then the two of them turned to the child lying on the ground.

TBC

A/N: My goodness that was a little touch and go there. I'd appreciate some feedback. Please review, I'll take the good and the bad.


	9. Chapter 9

Infamous

Disclaimer: We've been down this road before. You know the drill, Dick Wolf owns the SVU characters and I only claim ownership of the original ones.

Olivia scooped the little girl up in her arms. Karen stared at her with eyes wide with fear as Olivia hugged her close. Olivia carefully removed the tape from over the little girl's mouth. As soon as she could, Karen began to scream.

"No! No! No! Don't!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Shhhhhh," Olivia comforted as she removed the tape from Karen's wrists and ankles "Its ok honey. We're here to help you." Olivia stroked the little girl's back, but Karen would have none of it. As soon as her legs and arms were free, she started fighting furiously.

"Olivia," Elliot said calmly as he stepped over the body of the dead coyote and put a hand on her shoulder "We should get out of here before anymore wild animals show up."

Olivia nodded and carried the still kicking and screaming child back to the car.

"Byron!" Karen screamed as soon as she saw him asleep in the back seat of the sedan. She started to fight even harder and Olivia let her down. She hopped in the back seat of the car with her older brother and started to cry. The little boy wrapped his arms around his little sister as she wept, clutching to him for dear life.

"Karen," Byron said as he too cried.

Olivia stood there watching the scene, wanting to be able to break down, wanting to be able to cry too but she knew she couldn't. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Elliot with his eyes already misting over.

"You okay?" he asked her. He knew she wasn't.

She just stood there, knowing that if she spoke the tears would come so she just shook her head and turned her gaze away from his. She felt him pull her into a tight embrace. She didn't fight him, instead she hugged back just as hard.

"Its okay Liv," he whispered into her hair "We found her, it's over."

She felt the last walls of her defenses fall "No," she said simply as the tears started to come in droves "It's far from over for that little girl not by a long shot."

Elliot stroked her back "We should call Munch and Fin," he told her, trying to regain his composure and knowing that Olivia was completely right, it was far from over "We should let them know that we found her."

Olivia nodded, pulling away from Elliot "We should take her to a hospital," she said, attempting to wipe the remnants of emotion from her eyes "Get her checked out. Make sure she's okay."

Elliot nodded and the two walked back to the car. Olivia went to the back seat to see if Karen needed any help with her seatbelt. Karen had settled down considerably.

"Sorry," she said to Olivia as Olivia helped buckle her in.

"Its okay," Olivia reassured the girl. It was perfectly understandable that the child would react that way to strange people given what she had just been through.

"Where are we going Olivia?" Byron asked just before Olivia closed the car door.

"We're gonna go to a hospital sweetie," Olivia answered as she got into the passenger seat of the car.

Byron's eyes grew wide "Why?" he asked fearfully.

"We want to make sure that your sister is alright." Olivia answered in as kind a tone as possible. Lots of kids were afraid of hospitals and the issue had to be treated as sensitively as possible.

"I'm fine," Karen protested a bit too quickly.

"Let's just make sure, okay?" Olivia said, turning to look at the small girl. She looked way too small to be six years old.

Elliot caught Olivia's worried look "Are you guys hungry?" he asked the two children.

Olivia's look turned from concern to confusion almost instantly "What?" she whispered to Elliot.

"If we take them to eat before the hospital they might be more willing to go," he explained to her.

Olivia just looked at him. She nodded, deciding to yield to the more experienced Elliot in this matter.

The truth was that Elliot had no clue what he was doing. He was just hoping that it would be easier if they got them something to eat first. Considering how long Karen had been missing, it was safe to assume that she was hungry.

Both children nodded and Elliot turned the car in search of a place to get dinner.

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White hobbled down a side alley in Manhattan. He had made it back to the city with very little difficulty. After ditching Jenna's car at a bus station he had clung to the bottom of a bus until it had arrived in Manhattan. He was on his last legs, on the defensive; his best chance now was to find where Crawford and those two other cowards Daniels and Sullivan had run off to. The problem was that he had no clue where to look for them.

He turned the corner and noticed an open window that looked like it led into the basement of an apartment building. He crawled through the window and dropped to the floor, landing very painfully on his injured leg.

"Son of a bitch," he cursed under his breath.

"That you Rich?" an all too familiar voice came from the darkness.

"Crawford you bastard," White seethed angrily. He looked around for the source of the noise so that he could give it a good punch in the jaw.

"That's definitely him," came Sullivan's voice "and he's pissed."

"No shit Sully," Daniels added then coming up to White "You managed to get away from the cops you lucky ba-"

White's anger finally manifested itself in the form of a hard punch to the left side of Daniels' face.

"Damn it," Daniels said clutching his face "What was that for?"

"What do you think?" White asked angrily "Lets see you left me at the mercy of the cops. You abandoned me and ran off to God knows where. Why do you think I'm pissed Daniels?"

"Whoa man," Sullivan stepped between the two men "We shouldn't be fighting. We should be planning how we're gonna get back at those two detectives."

"Correction," Crawford interrupted "One detective, one bitch." All four men laughed desirously.

"You'll all get your chance," White told them "all in good time." He took a seat on an empty crate that had probably once held paper or nails or some such thing "Just remember," he continued "I get the first ride."

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"Don't worry sweetie," Olivia encouraged Karen "The doctor is just gonna make sure you aren't hurt," after getting the two children dinner they had finally convinced them that nothing bad would happen to them at the hospital and now that all four of them sat in an examination room and the doctor was ready to take a look at Karen, the little girl was having second thoughts.

"No!" she screamed as she kicked at the doctor.

"Honey its okay," Olivia told her as she held her hand.

"No!" Karen screamed again "Grandpa says that bad things happen to little girls in the hospital," she started to cry.

Olivia pulled the little girl into her lap and stroked her hair while she cried.

"At first glance," the doctor, a woman named Silvia, with long wavy blond hair began "She appears to be malnourished and psychologically distressed."

Karen cried out "I don't want them to take me away."

Olivia looked the little girl in the eye "Take you away where sweetie?"

"I don't wanna go," was Karen's only response.

Byron made as if to whisper something in Elliot's ear. Elliot leaned his head towards the little boy "What is it?" he asked.

"Grandpa says that doctors like to cut up little girls and boys." Byron whispered softly "Is that true?" Byron was starting to doubt the things that his grandfather had told him.

"No, of course not," Elliot reassured him.

Byron got up from his seat and went over to where Olivia sat with Karen. He whispered into Karen's ear, she stopped crying and stared at him in disbelief.

"You're sure?" she asked.

Byron nodded and smiled at her.

Karen nervously got back onto the examination table "No knives?" she asked Silvia in a timid voice.

"No knives," Silvia answered reassuringly.

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"I can't believe that someone would do that," Elliot mumbled to himself as they drove over the bridge into Manhattan. Karen hadn't been sexually assaulted but the examination had revealed numerous healed and healing fractures as well as bruises, cuts and burns. Just to be safe, Silvia had examined Byron as well and she had come up with the same findings. Both children had been victims of long term physical and psychological abuse, confirming Elliot and Olivia's worst fears.

"Its awful," Olivia said quietly so as not to wake the two sleeping children in the back seat. Olivia could believe that such horrible abuse took place, she knew that Elliot was aware of it too but that never made it any easier when they came across it in their jobs.

It was two thirty in the morning and Olivia could tell that Elliot was just as exhausted as she was "You want to stay at my place again?" she asked.

There had been know question in Elliot's mind that he would. With White still on the loose he didn't want her to be by herself. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was that he didn't trust White.

Olivia had called ACS already and the social worker who was on call had informed her that they wouldn't be able to place the children until the morning if at all. So Olivia had discussed the situation with Byron and Karen and both of them had jumped at the opportunity to stay at her apartment, another reason why Elliot didn't want to leave Olivia by herself.

They pulled up in front of the 1-6 and got out of the sedan and into Olivia's car. Olivia carefully picked Karen up in her arms and put her in the back seat of her car so that the little girl could remain asleep. Karen moaned slightly and grasped Olivia tightly when Olivia tried to straighten up again. Olivia smiled and gently loosened Karen's grip placing her hands over those of the little girl "Go back to sleep sweetie. We're almost home."

Byron woke up when Elliot tried to move him and he made the trip from one car to the other completely under his own power, if somewhat groggily. When he had climbed into the car he stretched and yawned and curled up into a ball.

Elliot got into the driver's seat as Olivia took the passenger's side "They're so precious," Olivia said in a whisper "How could anyone treat them so poorly?"

Elliot turned to her in the dim light from the street lamps "There's never an explanation Liv," he answered sadly "After all these years I couldn't tell you 'why?' If we knew the answer we would be out of a job."

"I would love to be out of a job," she said turning her head to stare out the window "If it meant that there were no more rapists, no more child abusers, no more lonely children who go to bed every night wondering if their mother will…" she trailed off.

Elliot turned her to face him "I can't make what has already happened to these kids go away. The only thing I can do is help them now, to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen again."

Olivia let her head rest against his chest "Let's go home," she said softly.

Elliot nodded, started the car and headed for her apartment.

Elliot pulled the car up in front of her building. Olivia got out and picked Karen up from the back seat again. The little girl automatically through her arms around Olivia's neck as she continued to doze. Byron got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk next to Olivia while Elliot went to go park the car.

Just as she had the night before, Olivia felt a presence behind her but when she turned, there was no one to be found. There was only the front door to her building and beside it the small window to the basement of the building. For a moment Olivia could swear that she saw a light flicker in the window but she quickly dismissed that thought as Elliot came up beside them.

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Olivia tucked the blankets securely first around Karen then Byron. She had decided to let the two children have her bed, she would be perfectly comfortable on the floor.

"Are you sure you don't want the couch?" Elliot asked softly from the door to her room "I could sleep on the floor in here."

"No its fine," she told him "I'd rather be here if they need anything."

"Olivia," Elliot said, standing beside her and pulling her close "I just don't want you to get too attached." He told her matter-of-factly.

"Elliot," she protested "I'm fine."

He pulled her closer and for a moment the line between partner and lover disappeared and he acted without thought to the consequences. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips "Good night," he turned and headed out to the living room.

Olivia stood there, her lips still tingling from the sensation of having his flesh pressed against hers. It had felt unbelievably right. It had been the most perfect kiss that she had ever experienced. It was just a simple kiss but it had been accompanied by such a warm feeling, something in her had woken up the second his lips touched hers.

She took her pillow and blanket and lay down on the floor, drifting off to sleep with the thought of that perfect kiss fresh in her mind.

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Barely two hours later, the ringing of Olivia's land line shook her from her sleep "What the…" she tried to answer it before the ringing woke the children. She wondered who it could possibly be. If it was work related, they would have just called her cell phone "Benson," she answered in typical fashion.

"Hello Olivia," she froze at the sound of the familiar voice.

"What do you want?" she asked, taking the hand set into the living room with her and leaving the children to sleep. She shook Elliot awake, not bothering to be gentle.

"Wha-" Elliot began.

Olivia put a finger to her lips and mouthed the word 'White'.

It was then that Elliot noticed the phone in her hand.

"Don't bother trying to trace this call," White was saying "It's a pre paid cell."

"What do you want?" Olivia asked again, her tone becoming more distressed. Elliot put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"I see you found that little girl," White continued with no reguard for her question "I'm glad."

Olivia started to shake. How did he know that they had found Karen?

"How's Elliot doing?" White asked in a mocking tone.

Olivia felt her stomach knot up. He knew that Elliot was with her "What do you want?" she asked again, her tone was one of absolute terror.

White's smile was evident in his voice when he answered "Why Olivia. Only the same thing I've always wanted, you."

TBC

A/N: I know its been a while but I'd appreciate the feedback. Please review.


	10. Chapter 10

Infamous

Disclaimer: You know this part already.

Olivia felt like she wanted to throw up. Her hands shook so violently that she dropped the phone "Where ever he is," she whispered "He saw us."

Elliot picked up the phone from the floor, it was still on.

"Hello Elliot," White said almost instantly when Elliot held the phone to his ear.

"What do you want?" Elliot asked, he hadn't heard the answer that White had given Olivia.

"I already told your partner what I want from her," White sneered "As for what I want from you… I want you to watch her die."

"You won't get near her," Elliot whispered harshly, wrapping an arm protectively around Olivia.

"I'm already closer than you think," White told him. The line went dead.

Elliot found himself holding on to Olivia for dear life. He stroked her back as she continued to shake "I won't let him get near you," he told her softly.

"He knows you're here," she whispered "He knows. How does he know?"

"I'll call the Captain," Elliot said, pulling out his cell phone "He's got to be somewhere close by."

Olivia was silent for a long time as Elliot explained the situation to Cragen. She remained silent even after he had hung up and pulled her back into his tight embrace. They just lay in silence for some time. Suddenly the silence was broken by a piercing scream.

Olivia pulled away and looked at Elliot "The kids," she said before running for her bedroom. Elliot quickly followed.

Byron was sitting bolt upright in Olivia's bed. He was completely fine as Olivia noticed gratefully. Karen thrashed violently in her sleep, crying loudly.

Olivia rushed to the side of the little girl "Karen," she whispered, gently shaking the child awake.

"No!" Karen cried desperately.

"Shhhhhh, honey its okay," Olivia soothed as she pulled the still flailing child close to her "Its okay sweetie, its okay."

Karen slowly became aware of where she was. Her screams of terror turned to soft crying as she clung desperately to Olivia. Olivia stroked the little girl's back, continuing to reassure her that it was safe.

Elliot put a hand on Byron's shoulder "Let's go out into the living room, okay?" Byron nodded and the two left the bedroom.

Olivia gently lay the little girl back on the bed and crawled in next to her "Did you have a bad dream sweetie?" she asked.

Karen still clung to Olivia tightly. Tears streamed down her small, angelic face. She didn't say anything for a long time. Olivia just lay there holding the little girl in her arms, waiting for her to talk "mmhmm," Karen finally managed tearfully.

"What happened?" Olivia asked, quietly.

"The bad man came back," Karen said softly.

Olivia wondered what she meant. Was it a nightmare about her grandfather? "Your grandfather?" Olivia asked in a voice that spoke the compassion that she felt towards the child.

"No," Karen shook her head "The one from the woods."

Olivia's heart broke for the little girl as she felt her own fear rise up within her "What happened in your dream?" she asked.

"The bad man came back," Karen began "He hurt Elliot and then he hurt you."

Olivia felt her eyes mist over and a tear escape as the lump formed in her throat "The bad man won't come back," she told Karen "He won't hurt you."

"You're not listening," Karen said fearfully "He won't hurt me," she clutched Olivia and began to sob furiously "He'll hurt you."

"Nothing's gonna happen to me," Olivia told the child "I'm here and I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. Try and get some sleep, okay?" she made as if to leave.

Karen tightened her grip which considering how hard she had already been clinging to Olivia, was a remarkable feat "Stay with me?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Sure," Olivia said, nestling into the covers next to the child.

Elliot knocked on the door frame "Can we come in?" he whispered.

Olivia looked at Karen who nodded "Yeah," Olivia said.

Byron came in and climbed into the bed on the opposite side of Karen from Olivia "Can Elliot stay too?" he asked.

"Why not," Olivia said "We'll have a slumber party."

"Are you sure?" Elliot asked Olivia.

"Yeah," she smiled at him "climb in."

Elliot climbed in on the other side of Byron and all four of them snuggled together. Olivia felt an overwhelmingly good feeling as they all lay together. In spite of the earlier phone call from White, she was able to relax and to fall back asleep.

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Olivia woke up a few hours later. She smiled when she saw the three peaceful sleeping faces beside her. She carefully got out of the bed and headed for the living room. She sat on the couch and thought about what her next move should be.

If White knew about Karen and Byron then the safest place for them to be was in foster care, somewhere far away from her. Her heart gave a painful twinge as she thought of having to say good bye to the two children. It was safer for them she decided.

She got up from the couch and went to the door to go get the morning paper. When she opened the door she saw something that chilled her two the core. Roses, two dozen red roses with a note attached. The roses weren't the worst part because she knew who they were from but lying next to the roses was a dead rat.

She ran back into the apartment and into her bedroom. She shook Elliot awake frantically.

"What is it Liv?" he asked groggily but when he opened his eyes and saw the look on her face and the flowers in her hand, he knew the answer "Where did you find those?" he asked, following her into the living room so that the children could continue to sleep in peace.

"I opened the door to get the paper," she began, trying to keep her shaking frame from toppling to the ground "I found these next to… next to a… dead rat."

Elliot pulled her as close as physically possible "We'll get through this," he told her as he dialed the captain again.

"He's in the building Elliot," she told him "I don't know how he got in."

Elliot hung up his phone "We'll get him," he told her "Cap says he'll have this place swarming with uniforms before we know it."

"Elliot," Olivia said, pulling away and looking him in the eye "Take the kids to ACS. Try and get them placed today. I don't want them to be around here when things heat up."

"I can't just leave you here," he said in protest.

"I'll stay in the apartment," she said and that was when Elliot knew that she was serious. Olivia would never make that type of promise usually, she made the promise to protect the kids.

"I'll take them," he said, knowing that it was a huge sacrifice she was making by saying that she wouldn't be the one to do it.

"Thank you," she said and turned and headed into the kitchen. Elliot headed into the bedroom to wake up Karen and Byron.

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"I can't believe this," Crawford said angrily as he climbed into the driver's seat of the car he had recently hotwired "You had to taunt her with those flowers Rich. We had the prime location and now its gonna be buzzing with cops 'cause of you."

"Trust me," White said from the back seat "I know what I'm doing."

"I don't trust either of you," Daniels said, pressing an ice pack to his swollen jaw.

"Calm down everyone," Sullivan was the voice of reason "Now what exactly is the plan here?"

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"I don't want to go," Karen said as she hugged Olivia good bye.

"I know honey," Olivia said as she hugged back "but you'll be safer."

Karen pulled away from Olivia and looked her in the eye "Because of the bad man?" she asked.

Olivia was momentarily thrown by how perceptive this little girl was "Yes," she answered.

"He's coming back," Karen said somberly "He's going to hurt you." She hugged Olivia again and then turned to join Elliot and Byron.

The three of them walked out the door and Olivia quickly locked it behind them. She crossed the room to her couch and sat down. Sighing heavily she caught a glimpse of the roses that she had discarded on the coffee table. She noticed the note and it was then that she remembered that she hadn't read it. She had been so preoccupied with making sure that the children were safe she had completely forgotten about it. She wondered whether or not she should read it as she felt her stomach churning. She reached for the slip of paper and reluctantly unfolded it. She began reading silently to herself.

Dear Olivia,

You will be mine whether you want to or not. I can't wait until that moment comes. Remember you wouldn't want anything to happen to those two beautiful children, would you? Of course you wouldn't. And what about your partner, have you told him that you love him yet because I know you do. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him either.

Waiting to screw you

Richard

Olivia ran to the bathroom and through up. She was almost glad that Elliot hadn't been there when she read the letter. It was true that she loved Elliot but how the hell did White even guess? She pushed that thought from her mind and returned to the more pressing issue. White had threatened Karen, Byron and Elliot. It was a good thing that they were well on their way to ACS by now and she didn't have to worry.

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"I wish we could stay with you," Byron said as he walked hand in hand with Elliot and his little sister to the ACS offices.

"I know buddy," Elliot said, trying to hide the regret in his tone "but it isn't safe right now."

Karen whispered something in Byron's ear. Byron turned to Elliot "Because the bad man might hurt us?"

Elliot nodded.

"When the bad man is gone," Karen began "can we come live with you and Olivia?"

"Um," Elliot began "Olivia and I don't live together, usually."

"Why not?" Karen asked.

"Because," Elliot began "people live together when they are married or dating and Olivia and I aren't either."

"But you love her," Karen stated "So why don't you ask her to live with you."

Elliot found himself thrown for a loop. He did love Olivia, he hadn't been able to explain it to himself until Karen had said it for him. As he thought about it, walking down the street with the two children, he realized that he had loved her for a long time and that his actions had been trying to speak the words that his mouth hadn't been able to express.

Elliot felt a sharp blow to the back of his head. He fell forward and started to lose consciousness. The last thing he heard before blacking out was Karen's screams. 'I couldn't protect them, sorry Liv,' he thought before he slipped into darkness.

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Olivia sat on her couch watching the clock. The cops had been and gone. They had searched the building from top to bottom. They had found signs that at least one person had been living in the basement for at least a day or two but who ever it was, was long gone. Olivia felt nauseas that White had managed to get so close to her but the window that he had used to gain access to the building had been fixed, insuring that no one else would be able to sneak into the building.

It was taking Elliot a long time to get back from ACS. Olivia had called his cell phone at least ten times in the last hour but it had just gone straight to voicemail. She assumed that he had turned it off to avoid multiple paranoid calls from her and this made her a little annoyed with him but she was getting worried.

The buzzer sounded, hoping that it was Elliot she got off the couch and headed toward the intercom "Yes," she said holding down the switch.

"Olivia," came a voice that she was very surprised to hear.

"Byron, is that you sweetie?" she asked in total shock. Had Elliot brought them back for some reason?

"Yeah," he said sounding really afraid "Please let us in."

Olivia buzzed him up and waited patiently for Elliot's explanation. She heard the knock on her door and opened it.

She was shocked when she saw no sign of Elliot. What she did see was Byron holding tightly to Karen's hand. Both children had tears streaming down their faces and both were shaking violently.

Olivia pulled them both into a tight embrace and brought them into the apartment with her, locking the door behind them. She went to the couch and pulled both children up on either side of her.

"What happened?" she asked. Something traumatic had obviously happened to the two children and where was Elliot? 'Oh God' she thought, had something happened to Elliot?

Karen was the first to speak "Bad men," she said as she buried her face in her hands.

Olivia's heart jumped into her throat "What bad men, sweetie?" she managed to choke out.

Byron silently handed her a folded slip of paper and she felt sick. Her hands shook violently as she tried to unfold it. She recognized the handwriting and tears began to form in her eyes. She could taste the bile in the back of her throat as she began to read.

Dear Olivia,

If you are reading this, it means that the little brats managed to make it back to your apartment. You should thank me that I didn't touch them. It wasn't easy, I really wanted to hit that little boy when he tried to stop me.

I have Elliot and I will kill him if you don't surrender yourself to me. I will call you with the details later but if I see any cop other than you, I will kill him.

Can't wait to have you at last

Richard

Olivia dropped the paper and wrapped her arms tighter around Byron and Karen. She knew what she would have to do.

TBC

A/N: How was this for a twist? Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

Infamous

Disclaimer: See chapters 1-10

Olivia sat on her couch, holding Karen and Byron as close as humanly possible as all three of them cried. Elliot had been kidnapped and there was only one way to save him. She took in a deep breath when she heard the phone ring. She reached for it slowly, not sure that she was ready to deal with anything.

"Hello," she said into the receiver, trying not to sound like she had been crying.

"Its so nice to hear your voice," White sneered.

Olivia felt the lump in her throat growing ever larger. She wanted to know how White knew that she had received the note, she wanted to know why he had taken Elliot, she wanted to know so many things but she could barely speak "Why?" was all she could say.

White laughed "Call it insurance." He answered, referring to Elliot.

"Let him go," Olivia managed, her voice raspy from crying.

"Oh now, now," White taunted "That's not how we play this little game."

"This is not a game!" Olivia shouted so loudly that she caused Karen and Byron to jump slightly.

"Oh but it is," White told her "and since I hold all the cards here… we play by my rules."

"What do you want me to do?" Olivia asked, resigning herself to the inevitable.

"Just show up to the party," White said, happily "Come alone and unarmed. You give yourself to me and I'll let your lover here go. Simple as that."

"How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?" Olivia asked nervously.

"You don't," White told her honestly "but you don't have a choice. It's my way or you find his body next to the highway." He gave a quick laugh, obviously amused with what he perceived to be a joke.

"Where do I meet you?" Olivia asked, her hands trembling slightly.

"Now if I were to tell you that," White began, "You'd just call for backup to meet you there and save your ass. No my dear, we take this slow. Stand outside your apartment building and wait for further instructions." He hung up.

Olivia stood up and prepared to leave. She slipped her cell phone into her pocket and hid her gun in the waist band of her pants. She may have been told to come unarmed but she didn't trust White to let either of them escape with their lives.

Suddenly she stopped, remembering the two children that were still huddled on her couch. She couldn't just leave them alone but she definitely couldn't bring them with her. She looked at her clock, 7:39pm. She went out into the hall of the building and knocked on the door across the hall from hers.

"Mrs. Davis?" she asked.

A kindly old woman opened the door and looked at her "What can I do for you dear?"

"Um… I'm babysitting these two kids but something came up," Olivia tried to explain her situation in vague terms.

"Say no more dear," the old woman smiled "I'll be happy to watch them for you until you get back."

"Thank you Mrs. Davis," Olivia smiled and turned around to see Byron and Karen already standing there.

Karen came up and hugged Olivia's legs tightly "Be careful," she whispered.

"I will," Olivia whispered back and hugged her goodbye.

"When you and Elliot get back," Byron began "can we be a family?"

Olivia bent down and hugged the boy. She didn't know how to answer that question, so she said nothing.

The two children filed into Mrs. Davis's apartment "Don't worry dear," Mrs. Davis called to Olivia as she turned to leave "I'll take good care of them."

Olivia turned back towards the kind old woman "I know you will and thank you again," and with that Olivia was gone.

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Elliot wriggled his wrists in the incredibly tight rope. The four men had gotten the better of him far too easily he thought and now they were after his partner. He knew he just couldn't let that happen. His wrists became raw from the effort of trying to free himself, he thought he was making progress when he heard someone approaching.

"Are you comfortable?" White asked as he kicked Elliot in the ribs.

Elliot didn't answer him.

This only made White angrier "Just thought I'd let you know, your partner should be getting here soon, then the show will begin."

Elliot wanted to punch White "You won't get away with this."

White laughed "Do you cops have a book of horribly cliché catch phrases that you pull out for these types of situations or what?" he kicked Elliot in the ribs again. This time Elliot couldn't help the grunt of pain that escaped. White smiled widely and sat on the floor across from Elliot "Its gonna be a great show," he sneered "I'm sure you'll love it."

Elliot spit in White's face "If you lay even one finger on her I'll."

"There you go with the cliché catch phrases again detective," White said in an amused tone "if I may respond with one of my own, you're not in a position to do anything." White was about to say something else when he broke into a fit of coughing. It was at this point that Elliot noticed just how pale White looked. White finished his coughing fit and continued "Clichés will do you no good here. This isn't a movie, you are not the hero, your partner all though soon to be in distress will not be counting on you to spring into action and save her at the last second because you won't be able to…" White started coughing again. This time it took him several minutes to recover. When he had he continued "All you will be able to do," he leaned in close to Elliot and his voice turned venomous "Is watch her face as I rape her, watch her face as I beat her, watch her face when I strangle her. All you will be able to do is watch her die."

Elliot felt the anger rage inside him. He strained as hard as he could against his bonds but he had no luck. Instead he through his whole body as hard as he could in White's direction. He managed to land in White's lap.

"What were you trying to accomplish with that?" White asked mockingly as he stood to his feet and resumed kicking Elliot in the ribs. After only a few kicks, White began coughing again and he had to sit down.

"What's the matter White?" Elliot asked in a somewhat pleased tone "Not feeling so well?"

"Shut up," White told him between coughs. White left Elliot and headed back to his cot to lie down. Before he was out of earshot White decided to get one last dig in "I should rest up so that I'm at my peek when that bitch gets here." White reached his cot and collapsed into it. He felt both cold and warm at the same time, it was very unsettling.

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Olivia stood outside her apartment building, waiting. What she was waiting for she wasn't sure. She felt like crying, Elliot, her Elliot, he was in danger and it was all her fault. She had loved him for a long time and somehow White knew it. Was it that obvious?

Suddenly she felt someone grab her from behind. Instinctively she tried to fight her attacker off but found it to be useless. She felt her wrists being cuffed. She turned to try and get a look at the assailant and found herself looking into the hardened and soulless eyes of Andrew Crawford.

"Come quietly now," Crawford said as he dragged her towards a waiting car "Or I'll call Rich and that'll be it for that partner of yours." When they had reached the car, Crawford popped the trunk and shoved her in "I'd love to have you all to myself," he told her just before he closed the trunk "and if it was just me I would but I have my orders." He slammed the trunk, leaving Olivia in the dark, alone.

'Remain calm,' she told herself as she strained against her bonds. Olivia wondered where Crawford had obtained the cuffs and then it hit her, Elliot, they were Elliot's cuffs, which meant that her key should open them. She slowly manipulated her cuffed hands towards her pocket where her keys were. It was very painful and she felt like her shoulder was about to pop, when her fingers finally closed around the keys.

Using the keys turned out to be a whole different story and a whole different type of pain. Slowly but surely she managed to free herself. She discarded the cuffs and moved her arms to a more comfortable position.

Just then she heard the car come to a stop. She heard Crawford slam the driver's side door. Quickly she grabbed her gun from her waist band, thankful that Crawford hadn't searched her and positioned herself to strike.

Crawford popped the trunk and she sprung out at him. She hit him with her gun and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. She paused for a minute to take in her surroundings. Yet another old abandoned warehouse, or was it the same one she had been at just two days ago? She couldn't be sure.

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White felt himself being shaken awake. His eyes slowly opened to see Daniels standing over him "C'mon," Daniels said in the same tone that you would expect from a child on Christmas morning "Crawford's back." Daniels had only kept look out long enough to see the car pull up. He was unaware that Olivia had already overpowered Crawford.

White sat up, stretched and found himself falling victim to another fit of coughing "Dam it," he cursed when he had ceased hacking like a longtime smoker, which he wasn't.

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" Daniels asked "You look like shit."

"I feel fine," White told him. It wasn't any of Daniels's business how he felt and anyway, White was feeling significantly better than he had before he had taken his nap "Is Sullivan ready?" he asked as he finally stood up.

"Yeah," Daniels answered "We're all set. Detective Stabler has the perfect seat to watch the show.

White smiled to himself as he headed for the place where the show would take place 'This is going to be fun.'

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Olivia approached the warehouse as silently as possible. She was scared not for herself but for Elliot. Would they kill him if they saw that she was armed? Should she have just done as planned? Would it have been better if she had let White kill her all those years ago? If he had they would have definitely been able to give him the death penalty. She had to get to Elliot, she had to make sure that he got away with his life, after that her life was meaningless.

She slowly entered the warehouse holding her gun at the ready. Suddenly bright lights streamed through the building.

"Oh my dear," White's voice came from where she wasn't sure "you didn't follow the rules," Olivia heard him whisper to someone and then he continued speaking to her "You broke a rule now we get to break one of your boyfriend's arms."

"Don't hurt him," Olivia said in a voice barely above a whisper as her arm fell to her side and the gun slipped from her hand "I'll do whatever you say." She heard the clink of metal on cement and felt her heart and her hope drop along with the gun "Just please don't hurt him." She knew that Elliot would probably never forgive her for surrendering so easily but she couldn't let him suffer for her existence. Too many people had suffered already.

'I'm sorry' she thought, hanging her head in shame as she felt herself being grabbed from behind once more 'I'm so sorry'.

"Walk," the gruff voice of Daniels told her as for the second time that week she was held at the mercy of her own gun.

TBC

A/N: I know that this is a totally depressing and evil cliff hanger but I'm feeling kinda down and I thought that it was a good place to stop. I know that you guys all think that it's a bad place for me to have stopped but that's what reviews are for. I would appreciate the feedback. I would love to know what you all thought of this chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

Infamous

Disclaimer: You know this part already

Daniels shoved Olivia around so many twists and turns in the warehouse that it was hard for her to keep track of where they were in relation to the exit. Suddenly they stopped outside a door. Daniels pushed her hard against it before he opened it. She groaned from the sharp pain that shot through her body but Daniels just laughed and pushed her inside the room.

The room looked like it had been an office in a past life. Plain thin grey carpeting still clung to the floor, the walls were blank except for a series of switches that looked like they not only controlled the lights for the room but also for the whole building and one switch that looked like it was for a PA system.

None of these details registered with Olivia. The only thing that she saw in the room, the only thing that mattered was Elliot. He sat in a corner tied up and looking as if he had been badly beaten. Olivia broke away from Daniels and ran towards Elliot.

"Oh God," she whispered as she knelt on the floor beside him.

"Olivia," he groaned sadly "You shouldn't have come." He wished that she would have just forgotten about him and gone on with her life. At least that way she would be safe. But he knew it to be a hopeless wish because he knew his partner and she would never leave anyone behind. She would do anything to prevent any type of abuse if she could.

"You know I couldn't do that," she spoke his thoughts for him as she reached to untie his wrists.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said menacingly as she felt herself being yanked backwards hard.

"Olivia!" Elliot shouted as he struggled to free himself only to feel himself kicked in the side repeatedly.

"White," Olivia gasped as she was pulled backwards and she caught a glimpse of his face. It wasn't his presence that shocked her as much as his appearance. He was very pale almost ghostly.

"That's right darling," he said smiling as he brought his lips ever closer to hers.

She moved her head back as far as she possibly could to avoid his lips and turned her head to the side "Stop," she said meekly. Although White hadn't been feeling well he was still very strong and she couldn't escape his grasp.

"I suggest you comply," White told her as he turned her so that she could see Elliot again.

"No," she said softly as she stopped struggling. Sullivan stood next to Elliot, casually pointing a gun at the defenseless man's head as if it would mean nothing to him if he pulled the trigger and extinguished a life. Olivia knew that to these men a life meant nothing "Let him go," she tried to reason with them.

White forced her to kneel on the floor "Behave yourself and then we'll see," he said taunting her as he ran his hands up underneath her shirt.

She fought back the urge to vomit as his hands caressed her breasts "I'll… do whatever you… want," she tried to keep herself from gagging "Just please let him go."

White lay her on the floor and lay next to her "Now where would the fun be in that?" he told her "You're mine now and there is no way that I'll let either of you go."

She felt her stomach knot up even tighter than it had been "Please," she was openly begging and trying to fight back the tears "I'm yours just let him go."

Elliot watched the site in front of him and he felt broken inside. He would give anything if he could take her place. This was his fault because he wasn't strong enough to fight off them when they had grabbed him.

"Please," Olivia begged again "Its my fault not his."

'What are you saying' Elliot thought to himself. None of this was her fault. She was always so eager to blame herself for things that she had absolutely no control over. In this case she was blaming herself for the fact that White was a sick freak.

"Oh I still have a score to settle with your partner," White told her as he ran his fingers down to the hem of her pants and took his time fingering the buttons "and you are my ultimate revenge."

She felt the bile rise and this time she couldn't hold it back. Before she knew it she had thrown up directly in White's face. In an instant her pants were forgotten as White hauled her to her feet.

"You stupid bitch!" he screamed as he held her up by her hair and punched her in her face.

"Olivia!" Elliot screamed again because it was all that he could do.

"I'm gonna go change," White snarled and looked at Daniels who ever since he had brought Olivia into the room had just been sitting against the wall tapping the gun against his hand "You and Sullivan keep an eye on these two until I get back," and with that he dropped Olivia to the floor and left. As he was leaving he started coughing hard. His coughs could be heard reverberating in the ware house long after he left.

Daniels put the gun down and stood up. He walked towards the place where Olivia lay on the floor. He forced her to sit up and face him "Who says that Rich would be the only one to have some fun."

Sullivan placed his gun on the floor as well and came up on the other side of Olivia. Together the two men dragged her to her feet and they looked her up and down carefully.

"Where to begin?" Sullivan asked as he slid a hand down inside Olivia's pants.

Olivia felt the tears but she could fight back now. Now that no one was pointing a gun at Elliot, she was free to fight back. She struck out with her right hand and hit Sullivan in the stomach.

Sullivan stumbled back slightly "Son of a…" he muttered and then turned to pick something up off the floor.

Olivia cringed, was he going to shoot Elliot but Sullivan picked up a baseball bat and struck her hard with it.

"Hold her down," Sullivan commanded Daniels. Daniels obeyed and Sullivan struck Olivia repeatedly with the bat.

Olivia tried to fight back, she tried to keep the tears from coming but it just hurt so dam much. She finally cried out in pain "No please stop!"

Elliot struggled even harder to free himself. Luckily for him if you could call it lucky, which Elliot certainly couldn't, when White had been torturing Olivia, Sullivan had been paying more attention to that instead of what Elliot was doing so he had managed to make significant progress in freeing himself. 'Just a little more' he told himself.

Olivia's cries grew more pained and Elliot grew more desperate. He had his hands free. The hard part was accomplished. He quickly reached down and untied the rope that bound his legs together. He was still unnoticed by everyone in the room. Olivia couldn't see him because of the two men that stood over her.

"Please," she begged as the bat crashed down on her rib cage "stop."

"Okay," Sullivan sneered "We'll stop." He dropped the bat and climbed on top of her.

"Hey," Daniels protested "Who said you would go first?"

"Shut up," Sullivan snapped at him "You'll get your turn." He quickly pulled down Olivia's pants and underwear and was about to begin when he felt something hit him from behind.

Although Elliot's body was slowed by the tremendous pain that he had suffered from being beaten by White and Sullivan, he was still able to wheeled a gun and use it. He hit Sullivan over the head with the very gun that Sullivan had pointed at Elliot as way of forcing Olivia into submission.

Sullivan went down instantly but Daniels wouldn't be so easily dealt with. Daniels pulled Olivia's half naked body up and held her in front of him "Drop the gun," Daniels said forcefully as he inched closer to the place where he had left Olivia's gun.

Olivia's eyes met Elliot's. Everything in her face said 'Shoot him' but Elliot didn't have a clear shot. He watched in terror as Daniels reached the place where Olivia's gun lay on the floor. He bent down to pick it up but Olivia remained standing. Elliot fired the gun at Daniels's exposed upper body.

Daniels fell in one direction and Olivia fell in another. Elliot dropped his gun and caught Olivia in his arms. He thanked God when he looked her over and there was no sign that he had shot her. He looked at Daniels and saw the blood that spurted from his chest. Daniels was dead.

"Olivia," he whispered as he held her close to him "Thank God. Thank God."

"Elliot," she whispered back weakly "I'm glad you're safe." Her eyes drifted closed "I'm tired."

"No!" Elliot practically screamed at her "No! Olivia stay with me!"

Her eyes fluttered open again "I'm just tired," she said in a slightly stronger voice.

"I know," Elliot told her as he too felt the effects of his own injuries "We'll get to a hospital as soon as we can but we aren't out of the woods yet."

"Alright," Olivia groaned as she attempted to stand on her own but found herself wobbling uncontrollably as she collapsed to the floor.

"Don't push yourself," Elliot said as he helped her to sit up. Elliot left her to lean against a wall while he gathered the ropes that had been used to bind him and used them to restrain the unconscious Sullivan. Once that was done he turned back to Olivia.

Olivia had managed to pull her pants back up and fasten them "Are you okay?" she asked.

Elliot embraced her tightly. She had been beaten, terrorized and almost raped and the first thing on her mind was his wellbeing "Olivia," he began as he stroked her back comfortingly "I… I could have… lost you," he felt himself choke up.

She felt her own tears fall "I love you," she whispered the admission that she had waited too long to tell him "I'm sorry that this happened."

"Don't apologize," Elliot said as he continued to cry "I love you too and that's why," he pulled away from her far enough that he could look her in the eye "That's why I can never lose you." He pulled her back into his arms and held her as close as he could without hurting her.

Olivia felt so happy that he loved her too but at the same time she felt so scared that she had come so close to losing him. She hugged him back as if this was the first time she had seen him in years.

Elliot pulled away from the hug abruptly "We have to get out of here." He helped Olivia to her feet and let her lean on him for support. Together they limped towards the door of the room.

"My gun," Olivia said with labored breaths. She gestured towards the gun that lay inches from the hand of the now deceased Daniels.

Elliot bent down picked it up and handed it to her "Let's go," he said gently as he opened the door and they made their way out into the main part of the warehouse.

"How do we get out of here?" Elliot asked no one in particular.

But Olivia answered for him by pointing in the direction she remembered coming from. Although they had taken many twists and turns, Olivia remembered them pretty well.

When they had reached the door Elliot pushed it open and they both breathed a sigh of relief as the fresh air hit their faces. Elliot turned to Olivia "Do you have your cell phone?" he asked.

She nodded and reached into her pocket. The expression on her face turned from relief to worry almost instantly as she pulled out the remains of what used to be her phone.

Elliot looked at it and knew instantly what had happened. Sullivan had hit her with such force that the phone had shattered in her pocket. He cringed as he thought of the force necessary to accomplish that and he tightened his grip around Olivia.

"What do we do now?" Olivia asked as she returned the broken phone to her pocket. Then it dawned on her when she saw the car that Crawford had brought her in "Crawford," she said it realization.

"What about him?" Elliot asked. He hadn't remembered seeing Crawford in the warehouse.

"He brought me here in a car," Olivia explained "I knocked him out," she smiled a small smile of triumph when she spoke this part and then she told Elliot just why it was important "He should still have the keys on him."

Elliot nodded in understanding as they approached the car "We'll just drive out of here," he said relieved.

Olivia's eyes scanned the ground "Where the hell is he," she said, her voice tinged with frustration and a little bit of fear.

TBC

How are our two favorite detectives going to get themselves out of this one? Please review.


	13. Chapter 13

Infamous

Olivia leaned against Elliot. The pain was getting worse the longer she was standing but she knew she couldn't give in to the pain and fatigue just yet. Crawford wasn't where he had been before which meant that he had regained consciousness and since the car was still there, he was close by. She tightened her grip on her gun.

Elliot tightened his grip on Olivia. He was starting to reel from the pain in his ribs where he had been repeatedly kicked and he too felt like collapsing but he couldn't lose Olivia. He had come too close just a few minutes ago and he wasn't going to let that happen again. He looked down at her and could see the pain that was now etched onto her angelic features.

"We'll be okay," he said not just to reassure her but he also needed to hear those words. He needed to remind himself that they would pull through. They always had and this time would be no different.

"I know we will," she said softly, managing a small smile.

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White turned on his cot and through up. He felt like crap but he was positive that Sullivan and Daniels would soften Olivia up by the time he got back. He heard the gunshot but he assumed that she had done something to merit Stabler's death. He smiled to himself as he thought of how she would be broken by the time he got back.

Crawford approached White's cot and hauled him up by his collar "Why are you lying down on the job?" he growled.

"I'm not on the job," White spat back "Daniels and Sullivan are handling it."

Crawford let him drop back against the cot.

"What the hell? You bastard," White groaned.

"Oh yeah," Crawford scoffed "I was just up there. Daniels is dead and Sullivan is unconscious and," his voice became even more angry "Here's the best part. Your little prize and her boyfriend are no where to be found."

White shot up off the cot and although he was dizzy he tried to keep his balance "They got away!" he screamed. "Oh the things I will do to that bitch when I catch her," he muttered angrily as he headed for the exit of the warehouse.

Crawford grabbed him and pulled him back "You are in no shape to go after them Rich," he said ferociously as he once again through White down on the cot.

"Don't you speak to me that way," White said attempting to get up.

Crawford pushed him down again "Don't worry," he told White "You'll get your chance but not until I have my turn." Crawford picked up the baseball bat that he had retrieved from the room where Daniels was killed and struck White over the head with it "This'll make sure you stay where you are."

Carrying the bat with him, Crawford made his way towards the warehouse exit.

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Olivia and Elliot made it slowly to the side of the warehouse where the two of them slumped against the wall and held each other close. Both of them kept their guns at the ready none the less.

Elliot sighed as Olivia's head found its way into the hollow of his neck "I won't let them hurt you," he whispered into her hair.

Olivia only moaned softly as her eyes drifted closed.

"Liv," Elliot whispered in a voice full of desperation "Olivia wake up," he put his gun down as he used both arms to pull her back so that she faced him "Listen to me Olivia," his voice was still a whisper but his tone was firm although tinged with desperation and fear "I know you're tired, I know you're in pain but you can't fall asleep yet. You have to hang on."

Even though she felt herself drifting away, his voice brought her back. She was still in a daze but she knew something was different about his voice. 'He sounds scared, why? I'm just tired. I only want to close my eyes. It hurts so bad. Why does he sound so scared?' then it hit her 'He's afraid that if I fall asleep now, I won't wake up. Will I wake up?' she forced her heavy eyelids open again "I need some coffee." She groaned.

Elliot chuckled out of relief "Soon," he told her "Just as soon as we get out of here."

"It hurts so much," she moaned.

"I know," he answered softly, trying not to let her see the pain that he experienced by having her lean against his ribs.

She caught the small grunt of pain in his voice that he was trying to hide "Elliot?" she asked softly "Does it hurt?"

"Its nothing," he told her.

She could tell he was lying, he was lying for her sake "Please Elliot," she gave a quick sardonic laugh "You don't have to be the big strong man. You don't have to protect me."

"Yes I do," he told her plainly "You were willing to give your life in exchange for mine. You suffered because you wanted me to keep living. Compared to that sacrifice, a little pain is nothing."

Tears welled in Olivia's eyes "I love you so much," she buried her face in his chest, being careful not to hurt him and wept.

"I love you too," Elliot said as he stroked her hair "I won't let them take you away from me."

In the midst of their moment, they had both let go of their guns. Neither heard the approaching footsteps.

Crawford snuck ever closer to them as they huddled together in the darkness. He saw the two guns that lay on the ground. He quietly brushed the guns aside with the baseball bat.

Olivia heard the sound of metal scraping against concrete and she laboriously lifted her head. Her eyes locked with Crawford "Oh God," she said in a breathless voice as she clung desperately to Elliot.

"Leave us alone!" Elliot screamed as he fumbled for his gun. Finding it was out of reach he tried to maneuver himself in front of Olivia.

Crawford hit Elliot hard with the baseball bat. Elliot struggled to remain conscious 'Olivia! Olivia! Can't let him hurt her! Have to stay awake!' his head screamed at him.

"Elliot!" Olivia shrieked "Elliot! Stay with me!" She turned to Crawford and with her remaining strength she pulled herself to her feet "Leave us alone!" she shouted at him as if she were shoeing away a pesky animal.

Crawford laughed as he grabbed her by her shoulders "You say that as if you think I'll listen," he sneered as he gave her a passionate kiss. He picked her up in his arms "You and I are gonna have some fun honey."

"No!" Elliot yelled as he managed to pull himself to his feet, he picked up one of the forgotten guns and hobbled after them. Crawford broke into a run heading for the car. Elliot strained to catch up with him.

"No, no, please no," Olivia cried as she tried to fight against Crawford but in her injured state all that she could manage was a few lame slaps against his chest. Although they weren't enough to stop Crawford, they were enough to slow him down. He found it hard to hold the baseball bat and Olivia. Thinking that he would easily outrun Elliot, Crawford dropped the bat.

"Let me go!" Olivia cried in a last ditch effort as she managed to kick him in the face. Crawford stopped dead in his tracks and dropped her on the ground as he fell backwards. Olivia's kick was sufficient enough to knock him out again.

"This just isn't your day," she managed before she slumped back against the ground.

Elliot finally managed to reach them "Thank God," he said as he knelt awkwardly beside Olivia.

"The keys Elliot," Olivia groaned.

Elliot understood and moved towards Crawford. He searched the man's pockets until he found what appeared to be car keys. Elliot stood as best he could and helped Olivia into the car. He slid into the drivers seat and fumbled with the keys to find the one that would start it. He found it and felt relief flow through him as the ignition sounded into life. The relief was short lived though.

"I have no idea where we are," Elliot groaned. He felt a hand on his arm and looked up to see Olivia looking at him, soft understanding made its presence known even beneath all the pain and fear.

"Anywhere's better then here," she told him as her hold on his arm increased in a desperate effort to remind herself that he was indeed there.

Elliot nodded and began driving. He felt his head swim from the pain and he forced himself to focus on the road ahead of him. They hadn't gotten more then a few miles when Elliot pulled the car over to the side of the road. He unbuckled his seatbelt and doubled over in pain.

"Elliot!" Olivia's panicked voice hit his ears and almost went unnoticed as he felt himself give in to the bump to the head that Crawford had landed with the baseball bat.

"Olivia," he whispered through his clenched teeth "I can't."

She understood "I know," she said quietly "It's ok." She felt herself slipping as well "Its ok, we're together, that's all that matters." It was just too hard to keep going. Both of them hurt so much. They were away from White, away from Crawford, away from that horrible warehouse. They were together and together they felt safe to let go. She moved closer to him and with her last ounce of strength she wrapped her arm around his shoulders "I love you." She said as she gave in to darkness.

"I love you too," he said as he felt his hold on reality slipping. She heard him and both of them smiled before the darkness came.

THE END

JUST KIDDING

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"Okay," Cragen said into the phone before hanging it up "Munch, Fin come on we got a tip."

"What is it Captain?" Munch asked as he pulled on his coat.

"Someone said they heard a gunshot fired at that warehouse where White was hiding out a couple days ago. He probably met up with the others there."

"Should we call Olivia and Elliot?" Fin asked as he stood up from his desk and pulled out his cell phone, preparing to dial Olivia's apartment.

"Tell them to stay where they are." Cragen told Fin as he headed for the door. Cragen had been working round the clock and he was exhausted but he wasn't about to drag Olivia and Elliot into this one when it seemed that White now had it out for both of them.

"Captain!" Fin called worriedly "No one's answering!"

"What!" Cragen turned back and faced his two remaining detectives "Its two in the morning. Where could they possibly be? Try there cells."

Fin proceeded to dial Elliot's cell and Munch dialed Olivia's.

"No answer on Elliot's cell Cap," Fin reported as he flipped his phone closed.

Munch had a worried expression on his face "Captain," he said a bit shakily "It says that Olivia's phone can't receive the call. That its out of service."

Cragen scratched his head. He was very worried now "Where the hell are they."

TBC

A/N: Ok so you guys can totally yell at me for that little evil move back there but… I updated!


	14. Chapter 14

Infamous

"When you get back, can we be a family?"

"I love you."

"I won't let them hurt you."

"Can we be a family?"

"I love you."

"A family?"

"I love you."

"Together."

"I love you."

Olivia's head swam. Words and images of the past two days floated in front and around her.

"Olivia?"

Was this just another fragment?

"Olivia?"

It was insistent, concerned, afraid.

"Olivia?"

It was Elliot and it was real. She struggled to open her eyes. When she did she saw him. Doubled over, face contorted in pain, eyes full of tears as he held her. He was alive, she was alive, they were alive.

"Elliot," she managed in a meek whisper.

He breathed a sigh of relief and immediately winced in pain again.

Olivia tried to sit up but found it impossible. She remained in Elliot's lap "We're alive?" she asked in amazement.

"I think so," Elliot told her as he brushed a few stray strands of hair away from her face.

"I thought," she began as her hand sought him out and clung to him "I thought it was the end."

Elliot nodded.

"Where are we?" she asked as she tried to raise her head to look around.

"I still have no idea," Elliot said disappointedly "I'm sorry."

"As long as we're together," she smiled up at him "I don't care." Her eyes began to drift closed again.

"Olivia!" he called her name even more desperately then before.

Her eyes popped open instantly "What's wrong?" she asked, groaning as she tried to get up again.

"Don't try and move too quickly," he told her as he used his arms to support her.

"Ugh," she groaned as he carefully helped her into a sitting position once more. Once she was sitting she turned her head and looked at him "I thought for sure that we were."

"I know," he nodded in understanding as he laboriously put a hand on her arm.

Olivia could tell that he was still in a great deal of pain "We have to get you to a hospital," she said reaching for the car keys but doubling over at the mercy of her own pain almost instantly.

"Relax," he told her as he too felt a spasm of pain shoot through him "It'll be fine." He looked her in the eye "We'll make it through this." He reached for the keys and gripped them. His arms weren't in as much pain as his ribcage so, although the experience was excruciating it was doable.

Olivia smiled at him then turned to gaze out on their surroundings. It was still dark out although a small line of lighter sky appeared off in the distance. This disturbed Olivia. Where were the familiar sunrise obstructing sky scrapers of Manhattan? Where were the lights left on by the people who never slept? She strained her ears and for the first time was aware of the absence of far off traffic. Instead she heard the impossibility of chirping crickets.

"I don't think we're in Manhattan anymore," she whispered.

Elliot shook his head. He had been focusing so closely on Olivia that he hadn't even noticed where they were and now he saw it. He hadn't noticed before. It had been so dark he had no idea how he had managed to stay on the road in the first place. It was then that he realized that they weren't even on a road. "This could be a problem," he said worriedly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Damn it," Cragen slammed his hand on his desk "Where the hell are they?"

The search of the warehouse where the gunshots were heard had turned up only a drug deal gone wrong. So narcotics was handling that case and Cragen had refocused his detectives on locating Elliot and Olivia.

"They weren't at her apartment," Munch reported.

"Her neighbor told us that she was watching the kids for Olivia. She says that Olivia told her that she had to go to work." Fin informed the Captain.

"Do Byron or Karen know anything that can help us?" Cragen asked.

"Mrs. Davis says she'll bring them down here at nine. She wants them to get a good night's sleep." Munch spoke his last sentence with a hint of sarcasm.

"Great," Cragen scoffed. He was getting worried. Even if Elliot and Olivia had defied orders, they would have a good reason and no matter what that good reason was, it wouldn't explain why Olivia's phone was out of service "Well lets see what else we can find out before then."

Munch placed his notepad on the table "From what we know," he turned to a page on which he had written an interview with a man who had just been leaving for work "Elliot left the building with the children shortly before the uniforms arrived to search the place."

Cragen scratched his head "Could he have been taking them to ACS?"

"It's a possibility," Fin said.

"Anyway," Munch said turning to the page where he had written down what Mrs. Davis had been able to tell them "Mrs. Davis remembers seeing the children returning around 5:30 or so, WITHOUT Elliot," he emphasized 'without'.

"Well did she ask the children about it?" Cragen asked hopefully.

"She says she tried but they got quiet and wouldn't talk about anything," Fin told Cragen.

Cragen scratched his head again "What happened to them?" he asked no one in particular.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh this is bad," Elliot muttered as the growing light revealed the swamp that surrounded them.

"How did we get here?" Olivia asked softly as she felt the carpeted floor of the car slowly growing moist.

"We were pretty out of it when we drove here," Elliot hypothesized "I must not have been paying attention," that was an understatement. All that had been in Elliot's mind had been getting Olivia away, making sure that she was as far away from those men as possible. In fact if there had been another car anywhere around when they had been driving, Elliot would have probably run right into it.

"Let me see if I can start the car," Elliot groaned as he once again attempted to put the keys into the ignition. After only a few seconds longer than it would have normally taken him, he got the keys to their destination. He turned the keys, the only reward for his troubles a small sputter before the car dropped back into silence.

"Damn," he cursed "The engine's probably flooded."

"That's not the only thing," Olivia said as she pulled her feet up carefully from the floor of the car.

Elliot noticed that there was a slow but steady trickle of water coming through the crack between the car door and the frame. The floor of the car was covered in a good inch of fowl smelling swamp water.

"This is not good," Olivia said, painfully hugging her knees to her chest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mrs. Davis walked into the SVU squad room with the two children in tow. She was greeted almost immediately by Munch and Fin.

"Good morning Mrs. Davis," Munch said, trying to sound cheerful and not as if he was exhausted and frustrated.

Fin bent down to Byron's level "Hey buddy," he said, extending his hand to the small boy.

"Hi Fin," Byron responded, obviously happy to see the detective again.

"And who are you?" Fin asked, turning to Karen.

Karen hesitated for a moment and looked to Byron. When Byron nodded signaling to her that everything was okay she turned back to Fin and extended her hand "My name's Karen. I'm Byron's little sister. Nice to meet you," Fin gently shook the little girl's hand and smiled at her.

Munch squatted next to his partner, trying to ignore the uproarious protest that his aging joints screamed at him "Can you guys help us?" he asked in that tone that he reserved especially for children.

Byron looked confused for a moment but then realization spread across his tiny face "This is about the bad men," he whispered, subconsciously taking Karen's hand into his as she scooted closer to her big brother.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The pain in his body was white hot but he couldn't dwell on that at the moment. In the last couple of hours the water level in the car had risen so that it was only about half an inch below the seats and it kept coming in.

"Can you roll down the window?" Olivia asked as she squatted on her seat in an effort to keep dry. The pain was intense but she was afraid of what sort of disease she might contract from the nasty swamp muck that kept coming through.

"Sorry," Elliot managed to grunt out as he clutched his ribcage while squatting on his own seat "Power windows… we can't… open them… unless the car… is on."

"How far do you think it is to solid land?" Olivia asked as her brain frantically searched for a solution to there problem.

"Not sure…" Elliot managed from between clenched teeth.

"Well," Olivia began as she reached for the door handle, as the pain shot through her due to the movement "Anything… is better than being… here."

She slowly pushed the door open as the water poured in. Olivia reached for Elliot's hand and carefully pulled him with her out the door of the car. The two stood outside in the swamp, leaning on each other for support. The water came up to Olivia's chest and she watched as the car slid out of view behind them.

"If we had been in there…" She began.

"I know," Elliot said as he squeezed her shoulder gently "Come on."

Carefully, together they took one step then another, each laborious step taking them closer to the solid ground that was clearly visible now that they were out of the car.

Suddenly Olivia stopped dead in her tracks. Elliot looked over at her and saw the look of sheer terror that had suddenly appeared on her face.

"What is it Liv?" he asked, his voice layered with concern and fear.

In a hoarse voice full of so much fear that it was almost tangible, Olivia whispered "Something just grabbed my leg."

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Infamous

Along the banks of the murky river Kim Barkley and her six and a half year old son Ben were out on there morning walk when they saw something in the water.

"Mommy," the little boy pointed out into the middle of the wide marshy, swamp like river "People," he told her with absolute certainty in his young voice.

Kim walked cautiously closer to the edge of the river "Stay there sweetie," she said to her son, indicating a tree that was safely away from the edge of the river. She peered closely at the two heads that bobbed just above the surface. It had been seven years but she would know those two anywhere, she turned around and called out to her son "Ben! Run back to the house and get your father!"

Their house was only a little ways away so Kim wasn't worried. Ben sped off at the request of his mother towards the house where he, his mom, his dad and his little sister lived together and had for as long as he could remember.

Once he was out of site Kim turned back to the river. She kicked off her shoes and rushed into the water. She swam quickly towards the two figures. The woman's head was nearly under and the man was doing everything in his power to keep her above but it was obvious that they were both badly injured.

Elliot heard someone approaching and didn't even bother to see who it was "Please help us," he managed to croak out "Something's got her by the leg," he added as way of explanation.

Kim took a deep breath and dove under the water. She saw the woman's leg and what was causing the problem. A large dead tree branch was tangled around her leg and in the woman's obviously weakened state it was impossible to fight against it. Kim had the leg clear of the tree branch in a matter of seconds. She surfaced quickly at the shoulder of the woman and helped the man keep her above water.

"It's ok," she told the both of them "It was just a tree branch. You'll be fine now," she reassured.

Olivia took in a big gulp of air. She was aware of Elliot in front of her and of the woman beside her. She was aware of their hands gently supporting her. But she was also very aware of the pain that shot through her body, pain that had been exacerbated by her struggle against what had turned out to be the tree branch. Elliot had tried to help her but the effort had taken its toll on him as well. If this mystery woman hadn't shown up when she had, Olivia was sure that she and Elliot wouldn't have been able to stay above water much longer. Olivia wanted to thank the woman but she couldn't find her voice.

"We have to get you to shore," her unidentified savior was saying to her. Olivia heard the woman speaking to Elliot next "Do you think you can make it?" the stranger asked him.

Elliot looked at Olivia. He knew that he couldn't make it to shore on his own, he was too exhausted and he knew that Olivia was exhausted too. He could see it in her eyes. He knew that she would need all the help that the woman who stood beside them could offer. Elliot made his decision "Help her," was all he said.

"Elliot," Olivia finally found her voice and it sounded sad and scared. She couldn't stand leaving him. She knew that there was a good chance that if the woman helped her to shore and left Elliot there, he would most likely drown before the woman could come back for him.

Kim looked at the two people who had without knowing it, helped her change her life around seven years ago. The woman whose head she held above water was the same woman who had helped her find the courage to testify against her former business partner in court. This woman, Olivia Benson had helped her more than she would ever know. That's why her son bore her last name as his first.

Elliot had been helpful to her as well. Elliot Stabler had helped her find a new job working for the city. She hadn't kept the job long out of fear but she had always remembered him fondly for helping her.

She couldn't leave either one of them behind. She cast her gaze upwards in a silent prayer and that's when she caught site of her husband standing on the river bank. Ben stood beside him and he held their eighteen month old daughter Halley in his arms.

"Nathan!" she called out to him "These people need help!"

Kim watched as Nathan directed Ben to watch his sister, pointing to the exact same tree that Kim had indicated to the child earlier. Nathan too kicked off his shoes and swam quickly to the three people in the middle of the river.

"They're hurt," Kim explained as she did her best to hold Olivia in her arms, letting the water do most of the work. Kim wasn't especially a very physically strong woman but she got by. "Help him," Kim directed her husband, indicating Elliot with a nod of her head.

Nathan went over to Elliot and tried to move him by placing an arm under his stomach which in turn inadvertently applied pressure to Elliot's ribcage. Elliot couldn't help the audible grunt of pain that escaped his lips and Nathan quickly removed his hand and awkwardly supported Elliot from under the armpits.

Together the group made their way to shore slowly. Olivia and Elliot still hadn't seen the faces of their rescuers but they were able to notice, as they headed for shore, the two small children that waited somewhat impatiently on the bank.

When they reached the shore, Kim and Nathan gently lay Olivia and Elliot on the ground. Nathan sat down on the ground and Kim dropped down beside them. The two shared a look that clearly spoke 'What do we do now?' Ben and Halley ran up to their parents. Ben went directly to his mother and hugged her. Halley too went to her mother and climbed into her lap sleepily.

"Who are they mommy?" Ben asked as he went and sat on the ground beside the man he called father.

"I knew them a long time ago honey," she offered, not wanting to go into too much detail.

At these words Olivia lifted her head to look at the woman who sat only inches away. Her hair was darker than it had been seven years ago but she was almost positive that she was staring at Kimberly Philips. What was Richard White's old business partner doing out here? More importantly, where was here? And if White had brought her and Elliot here, did he know that Kimberly was here? Olivia couldn't hold her head up very long though and she soon let it drop back to the ground.

"We need to get them back to the house," Kim told Nathan in a worried voice.

Nathan nodded slightly "We need to get them to a hospital Kim," he stated plainly. This however would be hard to accomplish.

When Nathan Barkley had first met Kimberly Philips, she had been a clerk in the district attorney's office. She had been so afraid around men, it had taken him forever to get her to go out on a date with him. She had made several excuses about not being able to get a sitter for her little boy. When he had found her a sitter she had confessed that she didn't want to leave her baby for even a second with anyone else and that it killed her to leave him at daycare so that she could go to work.

It had taken months before she had gone on the first date with him. It had taken a year before she had trusted him enough to tell him the whole truth about her past, about what had happened to her, about how she was one of the lucky ones in the whole mess. She didn't admit to him until the end of that conversation the truth about the father of her son.

Nathan knew the names of these two people who lay on the ground beside him and he knew how much his wife believed she owed them. He too owed them a great debt because from what Kim told him, if they hadn't caught the man, she probably never would have survived and he loved her so much that he couldn't imagine his life with out her or Ben.

Elliot groaned bringing Nathan back into the present. He watched as Elliot slowly sat up and reached for the woman beside him "Olivia," Elliot began softly "Please be ok," the last phrase was more of a prayer to God then something meant for Olivia to hear. Nathan knew as he watched the two people before him that they had the same type of bond that he had with Kim.

"Elliot," Olivia moaned softly up at him as she too tried to sit up. Elliot supported her as best he could but he was too weak. Olivia started to fall backwards only to be caught by Kim.

"Easy," Kim told her as she lowered Olivia back to the ground. Kim turned to Elliot "You shouldn't be up either," she spoke gently but with an edge of firmness in her voice.

"I need to know that she's ok," Elliot protested as Nathan helped him lie back down again.

"I'm fine," Olivia reassured him. She tried to make her voice sound strong the way it usually did but she couldn't help the shakiness that made itself known in the two little words.

"We need to get the two of you to a hospital," Nathan said as he stood up.

"Right now," Olivia began "I'd settle for a set of dry clothes and an actual bed to sleep in."

Nathan walked over to Kim and picked Halley up from her lap. He bent down and spoke to his wife in a hushed whisper "We half to get them to the house but I don't think they can walk all the way there."

Nathan was trying not to be heard by the two detectives because Kim had informed him of just how stubborn and persistent these two were but Elliot overheard anyway "I can walk," he informed the other man "You two can help Olivia."

Olivia not wanting to be treated like the weak link in the chain was quick to offer her own protest "I'm fine to walk."

Kim just shook her head at her husband as she stood up. She went over to Olivia and helped her stand up "You just let me know if you need to rest or anything," she informed the other woman once Olivia was standing on her own two feet.

Nathan helped Elliot up and made the same offer to the male detective that Kim had made for Olivia. Nathan and Elliot started down the path back to Nathan and Kim's house. Nathan carried Halley in his arms and Elliot leaned against Nathan for support. Ben ran ahead of the two men.

Olivia took a careful step and faltered. She stumbled backwards into Kim causing Kim to stumble a little bit but she quickly recovered. Kim took Olivia's arm and put it over her own shoulder "One step at a time honey," she encouraged as they slowly made there way forward.

As they walked, Olivia tried to keep her mind off the pain by making conversation "Your kids are beautiful," she said as she took in a deep breath and took yet another laborious step forward.

"Thank you," Kim responded as she steered Olivia to avoid a rock that lay in the path.

"What are their names?" Olivia asked, narrowly avoiding the rock and almost stumbling once again.

"My daughter's name is Halley," Kimberly began, not knowing how Olivia would react when she found out her son's name. She decided to tell her anyway "My son's name is Benson."

Olivia felt tears come to her eyes. She stopped walking and turned to Kim "Kimberly," she began but Kim shook her head violently at the mention of her full name.

"Its Kim," she said firmly.

Olivia corrected herself, not wanting to upset the other woman "Kim," she began once more "Thank you so much for what you did for us back there," they began their slow journey once more.

Kim was glad that Olivia didn't see the tears that she was fiercely trying to hold back "It was nothing compared to what you and your partner did for me all those years ago," she had to fight to keep her voice from cracking.

Olivia looked in front of them to see that the little boy who was her namesake come back towards them. He had a big grin on his face as he came up to his mother "Mommy," he spoke with the innocence of a boy who has never seen the horrors that other children had seen. Other children, Olivia's eyes misted over, other children like Karen and Byron. Oh how she missed those children. If she ever got back to them, she promised herself right then and there that she would adopt them. She would devote her whole life to Elliot and those children. The rest of Ben's words were unheard by Olivia as she broke down into sobs.

TBC

A/N: Ok so I've been out of the game on this one for a while but I think this is a pretty good chapter. Please, please, please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Infamous

Elliot heard Olivia's sobs and instantly turned around, losing his balance and ending up on the ground, which only added to his pain "What's wrong?" he frantically called out to anyone who could hear him.

"We're coming," Kim responded as she supported the distraught Olivia in her arms as they walked towards the spot where Elliot now sat on the ground.

"I think that we should take a rest," Nathan suggested as he sat down on the ground next to Elliot, allowing Halley to stand in his lap.

Kim and Olivia reached the place where the men sat and Kim helped Olivia sit down next to Elliot. Kim turned to Nathan and gave him a knowing look. The two moved off just far enough that they couldn't hear what Elliot and Olivia were saying but not so far that they couldn't see them.

Elliot reached gently for one of Olivia's hands and slowly drew her closer to him. He ignored the pain in his body as he pulled her into a tender hug. He was as careful as he could be as her body shook from the sobs. He knew that something was definitely wrong. She never cried this hard, at least not for this long "Olivia," he whispered "Its ok, I promise it's gonna be ok."

Her sobs did not diminish as she answered him "No it won't be," her body shook so violently that Elliot fought to hold back the groans of pain as he struggled to hold on to her without hurting her.

Kim looked to Nathan "Something's really wrong with her," she turned and picked Halley up from the ground where she was playing with her brother. She turned back to Nathan "You go on ahead to the house and call for an ambulance," she gave him a quick kiss on the lips "I'll keep an eye on them just please hurry." Nathan gave a quick nod to his wife and turned, heading for their house which was easily visible through the trees. Kim turned back to watching the two people on the ground a few yards from where she stood.

Elliot was now lying on the ground on his least painful side, holding Olivia tight "Shhh Shh," he whispered "We'll get through this," he kissed the top of her head.

"No we won't Elliot," she made no effort to keep her voice down "Do you think it's a coincidence that Kimberly Philips lives here, where ever the hell here is. The place where White brought us," she choked on her sobs as a fresh wave came in full force, making it impossible to talk for a few moments.

Kim froze. She hadn't heard all of what Olivia had been saying and what she had heard she hadn't been able to make out all except for one word and it was the one word that made her blood run cold 'White'. Halley let out a short whimper and Kim realized that she had been holding her extremely tight. She relaxed only enough to let the little girl breathe but her grip was still vice like. She found herself unable to move as she tried to find her voice. Frantically she called out in a strangled whisper "Ben. Ben come here. Please come here Ben," she pleaded with her son who only stood two feet away.

"I'm here mommy," he told her, coming up to her.

She collapsed to the ground and enveloped her son in the same tight embrace that she held her daughter in. She had thought that part of her life was over. She had moved away from the city so that Lila White would no longer pound on her door, demanding to see her grandson. It wasn't a coincidence that these two detectives were here. The last time she had seen Richard before they had arrested him, he had told her that he would settle his score with 'that bitch of a detective' and then he… it hurt for her to remember it but if he hadn't done it, she would have never been blessed with her precious son. Kim felt her own tears forming as she strained to hear what Olivia was saying. Privacy was not important anymore. Her family's safety was at stake.

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Nathan got to his house and hurried inside. He ran to the kitchen and practically ripped the wall phone from its proper place. He held the phone to his ear expecting to hear the familiar dial tone. His heart stopped when he heard absolutely nothing. He turned and looked out his kitchen window. He saw a man climbing down from the old maple tree, the one that the phone line ran right next to. Nathan's blood ran cold. What lengths would that woman go to, to steal her grandson from his mother's arms? He ran out the door and to where he had left his wife. It was no longer safe for them in this place, for any of them.

He pulled the keys from his pocket and jumped into the pickup truck. He knew it was risky, the noise would alert the intruders to his movements but with the two injured detectives, Nathan refused to leave them behind, they would need the advantage.

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Crawford dropped onto the ground from the tree after cutting the phone line. He turned to Sullivan "Why are we here again?" he groaned.

Sullivan shook his head "Rich is an ass, that's why we're here. He thinks that somehow this ex of his is gonna make up for that hot piece of ass that we almost had."

Crawford just threw his head back and laughed at his friend "I'm not the one who lost her up in the room. I might have gotten knocked out outside but I was alone man. You had Daniels."

Sullivan silently fumed. Since he had been knocked out at the time, he wasn't sure who it was who had shot Daniels but he knew that whoever it was, was in for a world of pain. Daniels had been his cell mate and through the years they had become like brothers. They had protected each other against prison fights and watched each others backs for years.

"I can't believe that he made us carry his sorry ass all the way here," Crawford bitched to his partner.

"I can hear you, you know," White said from where he was leaning against the tree. He was still pale and shaky but he felt up to the job at hand. After all Kimberly Philips was a much easier target then Olivia Benson.

All three men turned in the direction of a sudden noise,

"Damn it," White cursed as he drew himself up into a standing position. They all watched Nathan Barkley pull away from his house in his pickup truck. "Follow him," White firmly ordered Crawford and Sullivan.

Both men turned to him "You're fucking crazy man," Crawford told him "There is no fucking way that we are going to follow a fucking pickup truck on foot. You fucking idiot!"

"Go!" White shouted, pulling a gun from behind his back. His hands trembled fiercely but not from fear, it was from the infection that was quickly overtaking his body.

Crawford stared him down "You wanna shoot me? Okay man you go ahead and fucking shoot me. If you kill me, there's no fucking way that you're getting what you want." Crawford was confident that White wouldn't shoot him.

He was sadly mistaken however as White squeezed the trigger. White's hands were shaking so badly though that the bullet flew past Crawford. Crawford could feel the breeze the bullet made as it went past and he and Sullivan wasted no time in reassuring White that they would follow the pickup truck.

The truck was still in sight. Nathan had to steer carefully through the trees to get to where Kim and the others were and that meant that he couldn't go very fast. Crawford and Sullivan managed to get within five yards of him before he even noticed them. Nathan would have loved to run them over but amidst the trees he was unable to maneuver the truck to accomplish such a thing. He managed to speed up a little bit and increase the distance between them to about fifteen yards.

"Kim!" Nathan shouted when he reached them "Get in now, all of you! We have to go!"

"What?" Kim asked as she handed Halley up to him and then gave Ben a boost. She had a bad feeling she knew what it was.

"No time to explain!" Nathan's heart was pounding.

Kim turned to where Elliot and Olivia had been lying. Although Olivia was still sobbing and shaking, the two had managed to get to their feet and had started to make their way towards the pickup truck. Kim helped them as quickly as she could. When they had reached the back end of the pickup truck, Elliot made as if he were going to give Olivia a boost but he nearly doubled over before he had even lifted her off the ground.

"Elliot," Olivia managed to croak out through her sobs. She was concerned and she bent to help him into the truck. He made no objection as Olivia and Kim hoisted him into the back of the truck.

Olivia was just about to climb in after him when someone grabbed her from behind "You're not getting away that easily you little bitch," Crawford growled.

Olivia didn't have the strength to fight back but Kim did "Let her go you bastard!" she screamed as she swung at his face. The blow surprised Crawford who let go of Olivia who managed to land a, not as powerful as she would have liked, kick to his crotch before Kim helped her into the back of the truck.

Kim was on the verge of climbing in herself when Crawford recovered. Sullivan had also arrived on the scene, a little more out of breath then Crawford had been. The two men pulled Kim down off the truck. She tried to fight them off but it didn't take long for her to realize that her efforts were useless.

"Drive Nathan!" she screamed. There was no way that she was going to let these creeps get their hands on her family or on Elliot and Olivia.

"Kim!" Nathan cried out to his wife. His heart was being ripped apart at this moment.

"Drive the damn truck Nathan!" she screamed and in one second as Nathan looked over his shoulder at his wife as she fought in vein against the men, trying to prevent them from getting any closer to the truck. Their eyes met and Nathan knew that his wife was hell bent on protecting all the people who were in the truck and he regretfully sped off, leaving his wife at the mercy of Richard White's two cronies.

As Olivia lay on the floor of the truck, Elliot holding her tight and whispering "Thank God," over and over again, she felt the guilt over what had just happened as Ben and Halley cried out for their Mama.

TBC

A/N: Action packed, huh? I know, I know it's a cliffy but at least its… well its not Olivia whose in immediate danger in the cliffy this time, is it? I would really appreciate feedback on this chapter please.


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